UT Tyler Psychology and Counseling
UT Tyler Memory Assessment and Research Center (MARC)
About the MARC:
The UT Tyler Memory Assessment and Research Center (MARC) is a university center dedicated to improving the lives of Tyler, Smith County, and East Texas community members by providing neuropsychological screening and evaluation services to older adults with suspected or existing cognitive impairment, innovative scientific research, and therapeutic services for their caregivers and family members through our partnership with the Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County. The MARC provides UT Tyler students with clinical/research training, clinical experience, and research data for publications in order to further their education and help them reach their professional goals.
What is a neuropsychological evaluation?
A neuropsychological evaluation is a comprehensive evaluation of an individual's brain functioning by testing a wide spectrum of cognitive abilities (i.e., executive functioning, attention, learning/memory, language, and visuospatial processes) with a variety of standardized measures. The neuropsychological evaluation reveals if any areas of cognition are impaired and predict how these deficits are likely to affect day-to-day life at home, work, or school. This information is essential for determining the individual's cognitive health and serves as the basis for diagnosing types of cognitive decline, such as dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, traumatic brain injuries, strokes, and other cerebrovascular events, and other neurobiological diseases. A neuropsychological evaluation can also be helpful for individuals without any memory problems or symptoms of cognitive decline, since the individual’s cognitive abilities can be measured at a healthy level of brain functioning and serve as a point of comparison for any future evaluations.
Four Essential Phases of the Neuropsychological Evaluation:
1. Clinical Interview(s)
As part of your scheduled evaluation appointment, your clinician will take a detailed history of the problem that brought you to us, its course over time, and how it's affecting you now. We also obtain a detailed history of your developmental, family, school, work, and medical history. If available, we will also interview a close family member or friend.
2. Test Administration
- During your evaluation appointment, you will be given a series of standardized tests by a skilled and friendly clinician face-to-face at the MARC.
- Some tests will be verbal, others pencil and paper, and some will be on the computer.
- The testing part of your evaluation will take approximately 4-7 hours with intermittent breaks as needed.
- The testing is interactive to allow for an objective measure and comparison of your abilities with others in your age range.
- The testing does NOT require prior studying.
- You CANNOT fail, but we ask you to try your best on all tests to provide accurate results.
3. Scoring and Report Writing
After your evaluation appointment day, our clinicians will score all of the standardized tests you were given to measure your attention, processing speed, learning and memory, problem-solving skills, language ability, visual and spatial processing, motor functioning, and functioning on everyday tasks. Our goal is to provide you, your family, or your referring physician with more information about the presence of any impairment or areas of concern in your cognitive functions, provide clarification on diagnosis, and present treatment or continued care recommendations. Since the MARC is a student training clinic, Dr. Michael Barnett - a licensed psychologist - thoroughly supervises the process of scoring testing materials, conceptualizing diagnoses, report writing, and providing feedback for every client.
4. Feedback Session
Once your neuropsychological evaluation report is completed, MARC personnel will contact you in order to schedule a second appointment with your clinician for feedback on your evaluation results. At this visit, you will receive your neuropsychological report, discuss the findings, have a chance to ask questions and be provided with recommendations, information, and further resources to help you determine the best strategy for moving forward. After your feedback, you are still welcome to contact the MARC with further questions, requests for additional copies of your report, or requests for additional resources or referral options.
The day of your appointment:
- Since the length of interviews and testing vary from patient to patient, we recommend expecting a 5-8 hour appointment at the clinic.
- Attend well-rested to the best of your ability.
- Take any prescribed medications as directed by a doctor.
- Bring any forms sent to you already completed by your appointment time.
- Bring medical records relating to your diagnosis (if applicable).
- Wear hearing aids, prescription eyewear, or reading glasses (if applicable).
- Bring snacks and/or lunch for your breaks. We will take an hour-long break at lunchtime, during which you may leave to get lunch. We will additionally take minibreaks throughout the day to ensure you stay as rested as possible.
- Wear comfortable clothing, and bring a sweater or light jacket.
Contact Information
Address: 3531 S Broadway Ave, Tyler, TX 75701
Phone number: (903) 630-7479
Email: MARC@uttyler.edu
Hours of operation: Monday through Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM*
* Since we are affiliated with UT Tyler, we are closed during some university-related holidays such as spring break.