Processing speed is a vital, hard-to-measure skill for both elite athletes and patients.

The difficulty of quantifying processing speed is why the NFL still relies on years of observation, or "tape."

Future performance of NFL players often rides on intangible skills that neuropsychologists measure.

Fast processing might help athletes “see” the future plays and movements of their opponents.

Like many of my patients, I have always dreamed of being a professional athlete. That dream was never realistic for me, and many decades into my life, any athletic feat is a cause for celebration.

But I am still an avid sports fan, and I am particularly interested in understanding what makes for a great player. And one of my favorite events is the NFL draft, where evaluations of future performance often ride on intangible skills that neuropsychologists measure in our work.

Obviously, a basic requirement is the physical component of sports. You will never be an NFL quarterback without being able to throw a football a long way, accurately, with pace. You will never play in the NBA without speed, quickness, and the ability to shoot.

We are now in the season of the NFL Draft. The NBA Draft follows at the end of June. I listen to dozens of podcasts about these drafts, and I keep noticing that the skill scouts praise in their best prospects is the one that matters just as much for my patients, whether they become recreational, high school, college, or professional athletes, or never play at all.

That skill is processing.

What we actually measure in the office

One way I explain processing speed to parents is by describing how we take in information from the outside, bring it into our brains, process it there, and then produce an........

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