Creyos or a Full Neuropsychological Evaluation? How to Tell Which You Need

If someone told you to "get neuropsych testing," a Creyos assessment is probably not what they meant. A neuropsychological evaluation is an in-depth examination by a specialist psychologist: history, many hand-administered and computerized tests, and a long written report that can support a diagnosis of a brain disorder. Creyos is a computerized cognitive assessment that takes roughly 20 to 40 minutes and compares your task scores with people your age. Both measure thinking. They differ in depth, in who interprets them, and in which questions they can answer. Here is how to tell which one fits your situation.

Depth is the real difference

Think of the two as a quick measurement versus a full investigation. A computerized battery answers a narrow question well: "How is this person doing on these particular tasks compared with people their age today?" A neuropsychological evaluation tries to answer a bigger one: "What is going on with this person's brain function, why, and what should be done about it?" To get there, a neuropsychologist combines records, interviews with you and often your family, a much longer menu of tests, and clinical reasoning about patterns across them.

That difference in depth drives everything else: time, cost, who is qualified to give the test, and what the final document can be used for. It is also why neither one is "better." A full evaluation is more than many people need, and a brief assessment is less than some people need.

What happens in a neuropsychological evaluation

The American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN) describes a clinical neuropsychologist as a doctoral-level psychologist with a psychology doctorate, an internship, the equivalent of two additional years of specialized neuropsychology training, and a state license. Board certification through the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology is, in the AACN's words, the clearest evidence of competence in the field.

According to the AACN, an evaluation has four parts:

1. History. Review of medical and other records, an interview with you and, with permission, interviews with family members or others who know you well.
2. Examination. Standardized tests delivered through oral questions, paper and pencil, computers, and hands-on materials such as blocks and puzzles. Depending on the question, testing can cover attention, memory, language, academic skills, reasoning and problem solving, visuospatial ability and sensory-motor skills, plus questionnaires about mood, behavior and personality. Some testing may be given by a technician under the neuropsychologist's direct supervision.
3. Analysis. The neuropsychologist integrates the history and test data into a comprehensive report describing strengths, weaknesses, patterns with diagnostic significance and recommendations.
4. Feedback. A follow-up visit or call to explain the findings, with the report shared with your referring clinician if you agree.

Time varies with the question. The AACN notes that direct contact can be as short as an hour for a brief screening or eight hours or more for a comprehensive assessment, spread over several appointments, before the report is written.

What happens in a Creyos assessment

Creyos (formerly Cambridge Brain Sciences) delivers a set of short online tasks, each about two to three minutes, drawn from a library of 12 tasks across four domains; the full battery takes about 40 minutes and the ADHD protocol about 20 to 25. Our complete guide to the Creyos cognitive assessment covers the tasks, protocols and questionnaires in detail.

The software scores each task automatically and compares it with a normative database of more than 85,000 people, so the report shows where you fall relative to your age group. What it does not do is integrate your history, explain why a score is low, or weigh competing explanations. That is your clinician's job, which is why Creyos results are reviewed in a visit rather than handed over as a verdict. Creyos is registered and listed with the FDA as a Class II, 510(k)-exempt computerized cognitive assessment aid; it is not FDA-cleared or approved and does not diagnose any condition.

Creyos's own Report Interpretation Guide says that when results are unexpectedly low, a clinician may still need to refer the patient to a neuropsychologist or neurologist. In other words, the company itself positions the tool as something that can point toward a fuller workup, not something that replaces it.

Side by side

CPT codes are listed only to show that the two are billed differently; a code is not a promise that a plan will pay. Descriptors are from the American Psychological Association's 2026 testing billing guide.

When a full neuropsychological evaluation is the better fit

The AACN lists common reasons people are referred, and they make a useful checklist. A full evaluation is usually the right call when the question is one of these:

• Learning and development: a possible learning disorder, or a request from a school, college or testing agency for formal documentation to support accommodations.
• Brain injury: the lasting effects of a concussion, traumatic brain injury or stroke, and which rehabilitation might help.
• Memory and aging: whether changes are normal aging, an illness such as dementia, or something else.
• Personality or behavior change: whether new symptoms reflect a psychiatric condition or a brain-based syndrome.
• Legal or insurance questions: litigation, disability claims or fitness-for-duty decisions, which follow their own rules.

If any of these describes you, a brief computerized assessment will not produce the document or the depth of answer you need. Your primary care clinician, neurologist or psychiatric provider can help you find a neuropsychologist; the AACN also keeps a directory of board-certified clinicians. For memory changes in an older adult specifically, see when to get memory concerns checked, and by whom.

When a shorter computerized assessment can be enough

Many cognitive questions in mental health care are narrower. Someone being evaluated for adult ADHD, or for depression that is making it hard to concentrate, may not need a day of testing. Adult ADHD is usually diagnosed through a careful clinical interview, rating scales and history from others, as our guide to the adult ADHD evaluation explains. A computerized assessment can add a measured view of attention, working memory and inhibition to that picture, and it gives you a starting point to compare against later.

It helps to be honest about the limits. Several Creyos tasks have only moderate test-retest reliability in Creyos's own data (correlations from 0.45 to 0.92 across tasks), and an independent 2026 review of 253 concussion clinic patients found that Creyos, the MoCA and the King-Devick test agreed on impairment in only 3 of 359 visits. The authors concluded that cognitive tests are not a stand-alone measure. A brief assessment is a data point; it becomes useful when a clinician reads it alongside your symptoms, sleep, mood and medical history. For the ADHD-specific version, see the Creyos ADHD assessment, and for a frank look at the research, is Creyos accurate?.

Where Willow & Stone fits

Willow & Stone is a psychiatric practice. Dr. Stacey Forbes, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, is a board-certified psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, and the practice does not do psychological or neuropsychological testing, autism assessments, or forensic, court, disability or school-eligibility evaluations. That has not changed. As of October 2026 the practice offers Creyos, and Dr. Forbes reviews the results with you as part of a clinical evaluation; it supports that evaluation rather than replacing it.

What a Creyos result cannot do at Willow & Stone is produce a neuropsychological report. If the question you bring needs one, we will say so and point you toward the right kind of specialist rather than book a visit that cannot give you the document you were asked for. Our explainer on psychiatric evaluation versus psychological testing covers how the two professions divide that work. Practical details of Creyos at the practice, including the fee and whether it is part of your evaluation or taken at home or in the Arlington office, are confirmed when you book; see pricing for the published visit fees.

Questions to ask before you book either one

• "What question do we need answered?" A diagnosis of a brain disorder, documentation for a school or court, and a baseline for psychiatric care lead to different services.
• "Who asked for testing, and what will they accept?" If a school, employer or insurer asked, get their requirements in writing first.
• "Who will interpret the results, and when?" Automated scores without a clinician's interpretation are easy to misread.
• "How long will it take, and how is it billed?" Neuropsychological evaluations and brief assessments are coded and priced very differently; ask your plan about both.
• "What happens if the results are unexpected?" A good answer includes a path to further evaluation.

Common Questions

Sources & Further Reading

• American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology — Adult Neuropsychology FAQ
• Creyos — Report Interpretation Guide (PDF)
• eCFR — 21 CFR 882.1470, Computerized cognitive assessment aid
• APA Services — 2026 Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing Billing and Coding Guide (PDF)
• Streicher et al. 2026, Neurotrauma Reports — King-Devick, MoCA and Creyos agreement (PubMed)
• Creyos — Online cognitive tasks
• Creyos — The normative database (blog, Feb 2026)

This article is general education, not a diagnosis or advice for your situation. Creyos results support, and never replace, a clinical evaluation; only a clinician who has evaluated you can diagnose a condition or recommend treatment. Do not start, stop, or change a medication without talking to the clinician who prescribes it.