The Plummer Movement Disorders Center
is one of only two National Parkinson
Foundation centers in Texas.
behavior.” Neuropsychologists administer
tasks to patients that evaluate all areas of
cognitive ability, including language,
problem solving, attention, and memory.
“The testing that we do tells us if areas of
the brain are functioning the way they
should be,” says Dr. Phillips-Sabol. For
example, a patient may be asked to
name a pictured item. This task helps to
determine if the brain is processing visual
information and able to use brain language
areas to name the item. Tests that are
dependent upon particular brain areas and
brain functions are administered over
several hours to help physicians diagnose
many types of neurological disorders,
including Alzheimer’s disease or other
dementias. Also, similar to functional
neuroimaging, but using different
techniques, neuropsychologists may
assist neurosurgeons during neurosurgery
involving particular brain regions by
mapping brain language areas so that the
surgeon can avoid these areas during surgery.
Psychiatry
Brian Kirkpatrick, MD, is the new
chairman of the Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Science, which has joined
the Neuroscience Institute. Psychiatric
problems interact with medical problems,
and many conditions are treated by both
psychiatrists and either neurologists or
neurosurgeons. For instance, dementia
not only causes difficulties with memory
but frequently leads to serious depression,
difficulties sleeping, and other serious
behavioral problems. Depression, a
common complication of neurological
conditions, is a serious medical disorder
that impacts a patient’s risk of diabetes and
cardiovascular disease.
The Plummer Movement Disorders Center team.
At the same time that psychological
approaches have developed into powerful
treatments for neuropsychiatric problems,
our understanding of the biological
basis of many mental and behavioral
disorders has grown exponentially. Genes
that increase the risk of depression,
schizophrenia, and other disorders have
been identified, and the “anatomy” of
psychiatric symptoms in the brain has
begun to be clarified.
Patient service, patient
satisfaction
Adult and pediatric patients across Texas and
as far away as Arkansas, Oklahoma, New
Mexico, and even Mexico travel to Scott &
White to seek treatment from the team of
experts at the Neuroscience Institute.
The center of the Neuroscience
Institute is based at Scott & White
Memorial Hospital in Temple, but the
institute is expanding its support across the
entire Scott & White system. This will
allow patients to be seen by a neurological
specialist near home while knowing that if
more advanced services are required, they
can seamlessly transfer care to Temple.
Neurologists, neurosurgeons, and
psychiatrists are currently available at or
being hired to support Scott & White
facilities in College Station, Killeen, Round
Rock, and Waco.
In addition, the Neuroscience Institute
providers work with ot