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Description of Clinics and Laboratories

The neuropsychology services in Neurology are located centrally in UI Hospitals & Clinics and provide easy and rapid access to all parts of the Hospital, including inpatient units on the Neurology and Neurosurgery wards, outpatient Neurology, and neuroimaging centers.  Fellows are provided with secretarial services, computers with high-speed internet access and MEDLINE capabilities, laser printers, appropriate professional and scientific software, and other amenities to foster professional development.  Fellows are supported to attend relevant national and international conferences, including the annual winter meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.  There are no outside placements or sites – all facilities needed to participate in the fellowship are located within UI Hospitals & Clinics.  

In the Benton Neuropsychology Clinic, neuropsychologists carry on a tradition of neuropsychological assessment that dates to the 1950’s and the early work of Arthur L. Benton.  Neuropsychology at Iowa has led the field for more than a half-century, and continues to do so.  The Director, Daniel Tranel, is a co-author of the latest (5th edition) of the Lezak book on neuropsychological assessment (Lezak, Howieson, Bigler, & Tranel, 2012).  Many neuropsychological tests and experimental procedures that now enjoy widespread clinical utilization have been developed here.  Standardized instruments for the analysis of all forms of higher behavior and cognition are available and are routinely used in the clinic. A wide variety of neuropsychological services are provided, ranging from brief consultations that may take no longer than a half hour, to comprehensive evaluations that may take up to 8 hours of test administration.  An integrated computer system for neuropsychological data management is in place.

Pioneering methods for lesion analysis were developed in the Department of Neurology at Iowa (Hanna Damasio, 2005; Damasio & Damasio, 1989).  These methods revolutionized the lesion approach in studies of brain-behavior relationships in humans, and fueled the growth of world-renown research programs in cognitive neuroscience in Neurology at Iowa. A focus on teaching brain-behavior relationships and focal neuropsychological syndromes continues to influence the training program to this day.

Benton Neuropsychology Clinic

The Benton Neuropsychology Clinic is located in the Roy Carver Pavilion of UI Hospitals & Clinics, and is comprised of five examination rooms with extensive assessment instruments, a technicians’ office, two faculty offices, a workroom for students and faculty, a neuropsychological rehabilitation facility, and a reception center and waiting room.  Four full-time technicians, as well as rotating practicum students, are available for assistance with assessments.  There are private offices for the fellows (or shared with one other fellow).  

Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Laboratory

The Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Laboratory is dedicated to the development and administration of psychological interventions to facilitate recovery and rehabilitation of cognitive and behavioral impairments and emotional disturbances resulting from brain damage. Interventions and counseling are available to patients with varied neurological conditions and concerns, including sleep disorders, movement disorders, pain management, and cognitive decline. The detailed neuropsychological evaluations conducted in the Benton Clinic are used to guide systematic individualized treatment programs that draw upon findings from cognitive neuroscience, psychotherapy, and educational research.  Neurological patients, their families, and their caretakers are provided with training in behavioral compensatory strategies, hierarchically-arranged cognitive retraining programs, and task-specific procedural learning techniques, in order to promote cognitive-behavioral competencies, functional independence, and emotional and physical well-being.