ABCN Neuropathological Conditions and Clinical Presentations 3

Question 1

Which feature of the neuropsychological profile most clearly distinguishes schizophrenia from major depressive disorder with cognitive complaints?

Accepted Answer

Stable, trait-like deficits across multiple domains in schizophrenia versus state-dependent deficits that improve with remission in depression

Answer

Schizophrenia is associated with stable, enduring cognitive deficits present even during symptom remission, whereas depressive cognitive impairment is largely state-dependent and improves with successful treatment.

Question 2

A child treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with prophylactic cranial radiation is at greatest risk for late neuropsychological deficits in which domain?

Accepted Answer

Processing speed, attention, and working memory

Answer

Cranial radiation damages developing white matter, with processing speed, attention, and working memory being the most consistently impaired domains in ALL survivors.

Question 3

A patient with a frontal lobe glioblastoma multiforme presents with personality changes, disinhibition, and poor insight. Which neuropsychological domain is most likely to show the greatest deficit?

Accepted Answer

Executive function and behavioral regulation

Answer

Frontal lobe glioblastoma directly disrupts prefrontal cortex and associated circuits, producing the most pronounced deficits in executive function, self-regulation, and behavioral inhibition.

Question 4

Neuropsychological evaluation of a patient with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) most commonly reveals deficits consistent with which pattern?

Accepted Answer

Subcortical profile with slowed processing speed, attention deficits, and psychomotor slowing

Answer

HAND produces a subcortical cognitive profile reflecting the virus's predilection for basal ganglia and white matter, resulting in slowed processing, attentional dysfunction, and psychomotor impairment.

Question 5

On neuropsychological testing, which finding most specifically supports a diagnosis of ADHD rather than a primary mood or anxiety disorder?

Accepted Answer

Impaired sustained attention and response inhibition with intact episodic memory encoding

Answer

ADHD is characterized by specific deficits in sustained attention, response inhibition, and working memory while episodic memory and overall intellectual ability are typically preserved.

(ABCN) American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology Practice Test

(ABCN) American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology Practice Test

ABCN Neuropathological Conditions and Clinical Presentations 3