Background　Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a common neurological complication after surgery. Many neuropsychological tests have been used to assess POCD, but these methods lack of specificity and consistency.　Objective　To summarize the currently used neuropsychological tests for clinical diagnosis of POCD.　Content　POCD includes a wide range of deficits in orientation, learning and memory, language, comprehension, and logical thinking, etc. Lacking of standard diagnostic criteria, POCD is identified largely relying on patients' performance in tests with many neuropsychological scales, including the Minimum Mental State Examination, The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, the Paper and Pencil Memory Scanning test, the Letter Cancellation test, Trail?蛳making tests, the Concept Shifting test, the Stroop colour word interference test, the Gorrved Pegboard, and the Four Boxes test. This review describes the advantages and disadvantages of these scales.　Trend　As cognitive function is a multifaceted behavior, a battery of neuropsychological scales to evaluate different aspects of cognition is required for the diagnose of POCD.