Meta-analysis in neuropsychology: basic approaches, findings, and applications

This article is a broad review of the approaches, findings, and applications of meta-analyses on clinical neuropsychological topics. The review is divided into four sections: basic characteristics of meta-analysis; the value of meta-analysis for neuropsychological investigations; illustrative findings from various meta-analyses on neuropsychological topics demonstrating the type of questions that can be answered; and problems and limitations of meta-analysis with a focus on future directions. The article is not intended to exhaustively review all the relevant literature nor detail the technical aspects of meta-analytic techniques, but rather it is designed to provide a basic, conceptual introduction for the general reader, particularly the clinician, to aid in comprehension of the now burgeoning literature that uses meta-analysis. Throughout, illustrative examples are developed and references are made to the practice of clinical neuropsychology.