Neuropsychology is a field that associates the biological process in the brain with the psychological process. Neuropsychology is a science field which is based upon psychology, physiology and biological psychology domains. It has an important role in to associate measurable brain activities and mind. To do so neuropsychology uses the scientific data from EEG, fMRI and PET devices. Neuropsychology exhibits new approaches and ideas with using the scientific data which are obtained from the brain.  In addition, “behaviour” is the measurable expression of the brain and mind so behaviour has a crucial place in neuropsychology. Therefore, we can say that behaviour is important for neuropsychology researches.

Neuropsychology has various approaches. These approaches are essentially cognitive neuropsychology, clinic neuropsychology, and experimental neuropsychology. Clinic neuropsychology investigates the damaging effects of damage in the brain or various diseases of human psychology. Clinic neuropsychology researchers conduct researches about the effect of damaged part of the brain and human’s cognitive abilities and behaviours.

In addition, experimental neuropsychology is a significant subfield of neuropsychology. The experimental neuropsychology is a science that investigates psychological processes like sensory and motor system. Thus, most of the research in this field is about understanding and explaining the function of the brain. If there is a need to clarify the distinction between clinic neuropsychology and experimental neuropsychology, clinic approach mostly performs a study with brain damage patient but on the other hand experimental approach mostly performs a study with normal people.

Furthermore, cognitive neuropsychology is another subfield of neuropsychology. The cognitive neuroscience works with patients who have neurological diseases or have damage in their brain. The purpose of this approach is conducting researches about the fluctuation and impairment in the human’s psychological conditions. The most crucial difference of this approach is that the cognitive approach does not take into consideration of physiological data. Therefore, this approach avoids comparison and generalization with the data of groups and focuses on the individual himself.

As a conclusion, neuropsychology is an interdisciplinary field that benefits both from the studies of brain and psychology.

Author: Sevim EYÜPOĞLU