The purpose of a cognitive assessment
The brain controls all of our thinking skills (e.g. memory, concentration), our emotions, and our behaviour. Cognitive assessment (also called a ‘thinking skills’ assessment) is often requested by doctors and other healthcare professionals. The assessment is a way of finding out information about how your brain is working and how that relates to your day-to-day life and activities.

The reason for your referral
People are often referred to us if they have suffered an injury to their brain. Physical illness or head injury can cause brain changes (e.g. traffic accidents, falls, poisoning, HIV infection). Illnesses can also directly affect your brain or spinal cord; examples include stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or multiple sclerosis. Lastly, you (or a member of your family) may have concerns about your thinking skills or there may be uncertainty about the kind of problems you are having, or about what is causing them.

Why undergo cognitive assessment?
One advantage of cognitive assessment is that it can identify subtle changes, or the early stages of a problem, that are not detected by other tests such as blood tests and brain scans.