What Does a Neurologist do?
A neurologist is a trained medical doctor that specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases related to the brain and nerves. Their expertise is within the field of organic disease and would generally be familiar with managing and treatment of disease such as headache, epilepsy, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, or isolated nerve injury. Within the personal injury they would be regarded as a key expert to understand the severity of the brain injury, past comment on cognitive recovery, and consider organic effects such as post-traumatic headache, epilepsy, or fatigue.
What Does a Neuropsychiatrist do?
A neuropsychiatrist is a unique kind of psychiatrist. They are psychiatrically trained yet have gained special experience and expertise and an understanding of the cause, particularly non-organic of functional neurological disorder. They would understand the neuropsychiatric complications of a brain injury. They would help understand the cause of complex and unexplained symptoms such as paralysis or non-epileptic attacks.
When could an MRI brain scan be helpful to your client?
MRI scans are a very sensitive means of picking up features of brain injury. There are many examples when the day of injury CT brain scan will not have picked up signs of injury, but a subsequent MRI brain scan may reveal features of a diffuse axonal injury. Structural abnormalities found on MR imaging may profoundly change the understanding of your client’s symptoms; as to whether they are organically mediated, or psychological. Objective findings of a brain injury on a test can change the whole approach of subsequent experts to your client’s problems. It supports your client problems being related to brain damage and can influence views about their treatment, rehabilitation needs and care requirements.
