Assessment

We offer practical training in use of neuropsychological tests, including instruments to assess the following functions:

Intelligence
Learning and memory (verbal, nonverbal)
Executive (frontal lobe) functions
Perceptual and attentional skills
Sensory and motor

We also offer training in administration and interpretation of the highly specialized
intracarotid anesthetic procedure (IAP).

Patient Population

Most of our population consists of patients with epilepsy, and most of those are seeking surgical treatment of their epilepsy. Occasionally patients with other neurological disorders (e.g., Parkinson's Disease, multiple sclerosis, head trauma, dementia, stroke) are also evaluated.

The language spoken by the MNI patient population may be English or French and occasionally other languages, as some patients are referred from outside of North America . On average, there are more French- than English-speaking patients.

Types of Evaluations

Patients with epilepsy receive preoperative or postoperative testing, and occasionally brief bedside evaluations; selected patients receive an IAP. The postoperative evaluation may be an early one, three months after surgery (in which case it is a brief version), or, most often it will be one year or more after surgery, in which case it is the same as a preoperative assessment. The most frequent evaluation is the preoperative one. Usually a single full evaluation takes six hours or longer and is carried out in two separate sessions on two consecutive days.

Summer practicum students may evaluate 15 to 20 cases over the course of the summer. Students may perform one or two full evaluations per week, depending on admissions.

Seminars and Team Meetings

There are four types of meetings in our program.

1. A weekly neuropsychology research seminar, which often includes guest speakers. These are less frequent in the summer.

2. A weekly Seizure Conference (in-depth discussion of a single case each week)

3. A weekly Neurology Service clinical meeting This consists of an update of patients currently in or expected in hospital. Detailed information is discussed for an average of 5 or 6 cases or more each week.

4. A weekly clinical teaching seminar specifically for interns, to orient them to the methods and tests used at our site.

Reporting

Students write a neuropsychological report for each patient they evaluate. They may also present oral reports. There are two forums for this: the "Seizure Conference" and the Neurology Service clinical meeting (occurs every Monday).

Resources

1. Testing room with one-way mirror, videotape equipment, and meeting rooms

2. Secretarial help is available to interns

3. Testing materials

4. EEG, PET, and MRI are all on site at the MNI. Interns can be exposed to these methodologies through interaction with personnel and through the results from these departments as they apply to patients seen by neuropsychology.

5. The epilepsy team consists of neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroradiologists, electroencephalographers, neuropsychologists and others specialized in epilepsy (nurses, social workers, technicians). There are two staff neuropsychologists in the epilepsy team, and a third part-time, plus a varying number of students and interns.

Application Procedure

There is no application form. Interested parties should send a letter specifying the kind of training they seek (internship, practicum) and for what dates, and including other relevant information about themselves. Also send a Curriculum Vitae and an informal transcript, and provide two letters of reference. These should be sent by mid-December, and all documents can be sent by e-mail or by postal mail if it is preferred. Address is below. Interviews take place in January. Decisions will be communicated by telephone at 10 AM on the official “Notification Day”.

Marilyn Jones-Gotman , Ph.D.
Montreal Neurological Institute
3801 University Street
Montreal , Quebec H3A 2B4