ABSTRACT
The most basic finding in neuropsychology is that brain damage can dra matically impair some mental functions (e.g. disrupting just particular aspects of vision, or of language, or of memory) while leaving others rela tively intact. By studying the patterns of spared and impaired functions after brain injury, neuropsychologists seek to learn which mental functions can operate independently in the brain, such that damage to one need not impair others. They may also hope to gain a privileged view of a single process when operating in isolation, in the absence of a second process that normally obscures the details of the first. By correlating the site of a lesion with its effects on performance, neuropsychologists can also try to relate particular mental functions to specific brain regions. Finally, identifying the spared and impaired functions in detail for particular patients may lead to more effective rehabilitation of their disorder.
