Skvortsov Anatolii A.

Relevance. Neuropsychological rehabilitation and assessment are the priority tasks in practice of a clinical psychologist. The modern rehabilitation system can be considered as a partnership between patients, their families and different specialists participating in the rehabilitation process. The existing approaches to neurorehabilitation are aimed at the earliest possible intervention. It`s of particular importance for patients with disorders of consciousness, whose number has been increasing in connection with the development of medicine in recent decades. This leads to the need to develop tools for specialized neuropsychological assessment and methods of neuropsychological rehabilitation of patients in the early stages of recovery of consciousness.

Objective. To summarize neuropsychological diagnostic and rehabilitation experience of working with patients with disorders of consciousness after brain lesions.

Methods. We analyze practical guidelines, applied research and our own hands-on experience of working with patients with disorders of consciousness after brain lesions.

Results. Based on the analysis, the recommended diagnostic tools are formulated that can be used to identify the current level of consciousness and to assess various parameters of psychic activity of patients with disorders of consciousness. In addition, the main directions and neuropsychological methods of rehabilitation work recommended for recovery of consciousness and continuing to be developed now are highlighted.

Conclusion. A new diagnostic and rehabilitation material is presented, which is recommended for use in neuropsychological practice by practicing clinical psychologists with patients with disorders of consciousness after brain lesions.

Acknowledgments: we would like to express our great appreciation to Professor Galina Ivanova, also Valentina Bykova and Olga Maksakova for comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

The meaning of “factor” in the works of A.R. Luria is analyzes. Relations of this concept and fundamental theoretical problems of neuropsychology are defines. On the basis of these relations is reconstructed for the most organic for A.R. Luria's texts interpretation of the concept “factor”.

The question of the investigation of functions of prefrontal cortex is put in the article. The author supposes that this zone of the brain is responsible for several different psychological components. He suggests a special method of investigation of some of the components. The method consists in combined use of principle of dissociation and the analysis of psychological processes’ disorders in the view of their stages of realization. As a result of the research there were defined some psychological components which were responsible for programming, regulation and control of different stages of thinking. Several neuropsychological syndromes of the disturbances of programming, regulation and control of thinking were marked out. The syndromes represented interconnected combinations of the disorders of the components.