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What is Neuropsychological Assessment?

At Brain Spectrum Neuropsychology, neuropsychological assessment is about understanding how your brain works—how you think, remember, focus, problem-solve, and process the world around you. These assessments go far beyond basic checklists or quick screenings. They are comprehensive, evidence-based evaluations designed to uncover how cognitive, emotional, and neurological factors may be affecting your everyday functioning.

Every assessment we do is thoughtfully tailored to the individual. Whether you’re noticing changes in memory or attention, struggling with focus or organization, experiencing difficulties related to a particular diagnosis, or trying to better understand a lifelong pattern, we take the time to ask the right questions and choose the right tools to get meaningful answers.

Neuropsychological assessment provides clarity—and with clarity comes a path forward. Whether you’re seeking diagnosis, treatment planning, or simply peace of mind, we’re here to help you better understand your brain and your unique strengths.

Types of Neuropsychological Assessment
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We offer a wide range of assessments to meet many different needs, including:

  • Differentiating Cognitive Decline from normal aging
  • Diagnosing Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia, and Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Evaluating movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease
  • Assessing the effects of Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion
  • Assessing cognitive changes resulting from Brain Tumor, Aneurysm, and Stroke
  • Evaluating and supporting individuals with diagnoses such as Multiple Sclerosis
  • Clarifying attention and executive functioning concerns such as ADHD
  • Exploring emotional and psychological concerns that affect cognition

What Is The Process?

We conduct comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations with the goals of providing you with diagnostic clarity and treatment planning. This is not a quick process consisting of brief checklists and rushed appointments. Our tailored neuropsychological evaluations are highly detailed and multi-faceted to provide you with the answers you seek.

What to Expect from Your Neuropsychological Evaluation
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At Brain Spectrum Neuropsychology, your evaluation is designed to be thorough, personalized, and genuinely helpful. We take the time to get to know you and understand your concerns, so we can provide real answers and meaningful recommendations.

Your evaluation will typically include:

  • In-depth interviewing to explore your history, experiences, and current challenges
  • Cognitive testing to assess how you think, problem-solve, and process information
  • Memory assessment to understand how well you retain and recall information
  • Evaluation of planning and organization (also known as executive functioning)
  • Testing of attention and concentration to see how well you stay focused and shift between tasks
  • Language assessment to look at your ability to understand, use, and find words
  • Behavioral observation to gather insights about how you approach tasks and interact in the testing setting
  • Consultation to discuss your results, answer your questions, and offer clear next steps
  • Record review to integrate relevant medical, academic, or psychological history

Our goal is to provide clarity, compassion, and concrete guidance—whether you’re seeking answers for yourself or a loved one. Every evaluation is approached with care and clinical expertise, because we believe that understanding your brain is the first step toward supporting your well-being.

Testimonials

Dr. Cheryl Arutt, PsyD, Clinical & Forensic Psychologist

"I have known Dr. Thurlow for 25 years and give her my highest recommendation! She is that special kind of expert who really listens, combining her deep knowledge and experience as a neuropsychologist with her compassion as a human/parent/friend to illuminate ways to really support and deeply understand young people whose brains work differently. Her evaluations improve lives, and I always know those I refer to Dr. Thurlow will be in excellent hands."

Dr. Mandy Moradi, Clinical Consultant Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center

"I have collaborated with Dr. Thurlow in various capacities over the years. She is an exceptionally bright psychologist who is committed to the wellbeing of our neurodivergent community. There is wide variability when it comes to evaluation quality, and finding a professional who offers best practice evaluations using gold-standard measures can be challenging. Dr. Thurlow offers the kind of sensitive, thorough, and evidence-based assessments that I trust. I recommend Dr. Thurlow without hesitation."

Dr. Jesse Olague, Child Psychologist, Del Mar

"Dr. Thurlow is without a doubt the best diagnostician in San Diego. Not only does she have the experience and high-level skills to understand even the most complex cases, she is also incredibly compassionate and kind. Families and professionals alike love working with her. I trust her clinical judgment without reservation."

David Teitelman, parent of a neurodivergent child.

"Dr. Thurlow is a spectacular psychologist/diagnostician. I can attest to her expertise in the areas of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and Neuro divergence. Dr. Thurlow was able to determine significant flaws in a previous evaluation of my neurodivergent child. With her help, we were finally able to obtain an accurate diagnosis after many years of struggle.

Dr. Thurlow's consultation, compassion, and support in obtaining an accurate diagnosis has truly been life-changing for our family."

888 Prospect Street, Suite 200, La Jolla, CA 92037