ABPN Clinical Neurophysiology study guide
ABPN Clinical Neurophysiology · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The ABPN Clinical Neurophysiology subspecialty examination is a computer-based certifying exam administered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties. It is intended for physicians who have completed neurology residency and additional clinical neurophysiology fellowship training and who wish to demonstrate subspecialty competence to patients, hospitals, and credentialing bodies. The exam samples the full breadth of the field: routine and prolonged EEG interpretation and epilepsy monitoring; nerve conduction studies and needle electromyography; evoked potentials including visual, brainstem auditory, somatosensory, and motor modalities; and polysomnography together with autonomic testing. Candidates should expect a clinically weighted exam that tests pattern recognition and instrumented interpretation as much as factual recall, so preparation should combine structured content review with heavy practice on real tracings and waveforms. The ABPN Clinical Neurophysiology study guide has 4 sections and about 1,366 words.
01EEG and Epilepsy Monitoring
Know the normal adult waking background (posterior alpha 8–13 Hz, reactive to eye opening), the stages of drowsiness and sleep (vertex waves, sleep spindles, K-complexes), and the activation procedures (hyperventilation, photic stimulation). Distinguish epileptiform discharges (spikes, sharp waves, spike-and-wave) from benign variants such as wicket spikes, 14-and-6 positive bursts, and rhythmic midtemporal theta of drowsiness.
359 words, about 2 min02Nerve Conduction Studies and Electromyography
Understand the physiology behind nerve conduction studies: compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitude reflects the number of excitable motor axons, while conduction velocity reflects the fastest fibers. Sensory nerve action potentials (SNAPs) are small and require averaging.
332 words, about 2 min03Evoked Potentials
Know the three main modalities: visual evoked potentials (VEP), brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP), and somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP). For VEP, the P100 wave reflects the visual pathway and is delayed in demyelinating optic neuropathy; check reproducibility and monocular stimulation.
335 words, about 2 min04Polysomnography and Autonomic Testing
Know the AASM scoring framework: sleep stages W, N1, N2, N3, and R, defined by EEG, EOG, and EMG features. N1 shows low-amplitude mixed-frequency EEG with slow eye movements; N2 requires K-complexes or spindles; N3 requires slow-wave activity (≥20% of an epoch); R shows low-amplitude mixed-frequency EEG, rapid eye movements, and low chin EMG tone.
340 words, about 2 min