Neuropsychological Assessments Mapped to Neuroanatomy

A quick‑reference guide for clinicians, researchers and students

Understanding which tests best probe specific brain regions helps you build tighter hypotheses, choose appropriate test batteries, and interpret patterns of impairment with greater confidence. The collapsible sections below pair major neuroanatomical areas with gold‑standard neuropsychological instruments commonly used to evaluate their functions.

Frontal Lobe

Primary cognitive -> behavioural roles

  • Planning
  • Set‑shifting
  • Inhibition
  • Working memory
  • Fluency
  • Social judgement
  • Motivation
  • Self‑monitoring
    Distinct networks
  • dorsolateral prefrontal (cold executive functions)
  • orbitofrontal (emotion / reward)
  • medial frontal / anterior cingulate (initiation & conflict monitoring).

Core assessments

  • Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) – cognitive flexibility, concept formation
  • Stroop Colour–Word Test – inhibitory control & mental speed
  • Trail Making Test B – set‑shifting, divided attention
  • Tower of London / Hanoi – planning & look‑ahead
  • Verbal Fluency (FAS / Controlled Oral Word Association) & Design Fluency
  • Digit Span (backwards) / Letter–Number Sequencing – working memory manipulation
  • Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS)
  • Iowa Gambling Task – orbitofrontal risk / reward decision‑making
Temporal Lobe
Involved in: Memory, Language & Auditory Processing

Primary cognitive / behavioural roles

  • Episodic encoding (medial temporal & hippocampus)
  • Semantic memory
  • Language comprehension/production(superior & middle temporal gyri)
  • Auditory discrimination
  • Emotion (amygdala).

Core assessments

  • Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) / California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)
  • Wechsler Memory Scale – Logical Memory & Visual Reproduction
  • Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure (immediate & delayed recall)
  • Boston Naming Test (BNT) & Token Test – confrontation naming & receptive syntax
  • Digit Span (forward) – simple auditory span
  • Benton Visual Retention Test – visual memory & constructional errors
Parietal Lobes
Involved in: Visuospatial Analysis & Sensorimotor Integration

Primary cognitive / behavioural roles

  • Spatial awareness
  • mental rotation
  • visuoconstructive praxis
  • numerical processing
  • body schema
  • attention
      especially right posterior parietal.

Core assessments

  • Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure (copy)
  • WAIS Block Design & Matrix Reasoning
  • Judgement of Line Orientation (JLO)
  • Benton Constructional Praxis or Hooper Visual Organisation
  • Spatial Span (Corsi)
  • Tests for Gerstmann syndrome:
    • finger localisation
    • left‑right orientation
    • calculation
    • writing
Occipital Lobes
Involved in: Primary & Association Visual Processing

Primary cognitive / behavioural roles

  • Basic visual perception
  • Colour discrimination
  • Object & face recognition (via ventral stream)
  • Motion perception (via dorsal stream).

Core assessments

  • Visual Object & Space Perception Battery (VOSP)
  • Benton Facial Recognition Test
  • Ishihara / Farnsworth‑Munsell colour tests (when optic pathways intact)
  • Tachistoscopic half‑field identification for hemifield asymmetries
Subcortical Circuits
Basal Ganglia, Thalamus & White‑Matter Tracts

Primary cognitive / behavioural roles

  • Motor speed
  • procedural learning
  • initiation
  • sustained attention
  • Processing speed
  • Mood regulation

Core assessments

  • Trail Making Test A – motor & visual search speed
  • Digit Symbol / Coding (WAIS)
  • Grooved Pegboard & Finger Tapping Test
  • Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)
  • Stroop colour naming time (speed component)
Cerebellum
Involved In: Coordination & Movement Timing

Primary cognitive / behavioural roles

  • Fine motor coordination
  • Motor learning
  • Temporal processing
  • set‑shifting
  • linguistic
  • fluency
  • affect regulation.

Core assessments

  • Purdue / Grooved Pegboard for dexterity
  • Rapid Alternating Movement & Finger‑to‑Nose bedside tasks
  • Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome (CCAS) (“Schmahmann”) Scale
  • Executive tests listed under frontal lobes (cerebellar‑frontal loops)
Limbic System
Emotion, Motivation & Memory Consolidation

Primary cognitive / behavioural roles

  • Emotional reactivity
      Amygdala
  • Episodic memory consolidation
      Hippocampus
  • motivational drive
      Septal/nucleus accumbens
  • Affect regulation
      Cingulate.

Core assessments

  • Facial Affect Recognition (Ekman & Friesen sets)
  • Emotional Stroop / Affective Go‑NoGo
  • Iowa Gambling Task – reward‑based decision‑making
  • Memory tests listed under temporal lobes
Corpus Callosum
Interhemispheric Transfer

Primary cognitive / behavioural roles

Rapid information sharing between hemispheres; bimanual coordination; integration of verbal & spatial codes.

Core assessments

  • Dichotic Listening Tasks – ear advantage & interhemispheric relay
  • Bimanual Coordination (e.g., Purdue Pegboard both‑hands)
  • Tachistoscopic half‑field word / picture recognition
Practical Tips for Test Selection & Interpretation
  • Combine task purity with battery diversity: no single test isolates one region exclusively, so cross‑reference patterns across multiple instruments.
  • Adjust for demographic corrections (age, education, culture) to avoid false‑positive localisation errors.
  • Integrate behavioural observations (e.g., strategy use, error types) – they often reveal loci of dysfunction better than raw scores alone.
  • Where structural/functional imaging is available, use neuropsych data to constrain and complement radiological findings.