DYSFUNCTION-HIGHER MENTAL FUNCTION ASSESSMENT

SUMMARY

The higher cognitive functions may be organized in he following hierarchic groupings:
1. Fund of acquired information or stored knowledge: ask 10 general knowledge questions like naming prime ministers, weeks in a year, etc.
2. Manipulation of old knowledge: calculations (simple & complex verbal examples, written complex examples)
3. Social awareness & judgement: ask the patient why they are in hospital?
4. Abstract thinking: interpreting 5 proverbs, finding 5 verbal similarities between dissociated items

Reference(s)

Strub, R. and Black, F., 2000. The mental status examination in neurology. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co.
R.M.H McMinn (1998). Last’s anatomy: regional and applied. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Get it on Amazon.
Drake, Richard L., et al. Gray's Anatomy for Students. Elsevier, 2023. Get it on Amazon.