MS MIDTERMS GLOSSARY • vertigo: illusion of movement in which the

individual or the surroundings are sensed

Assessment of Neurologic Function as moving
• agnosia: loss of ability to recognize objects
through a particular sensory system; may Management of Patients with Neurologic
be visual, auditory, or tactile Dysfunction
• ataxia: inability to coordinate muscle • akinetic mutism: unresponsiveness to the
movements, resulting in difficulty in walking, environment; the patient makes no
talking, and performing self-care activities movement or sound but sometimes opens
• autonomic nervous system: division of the the eyes
nervous system that regulates the • altered level of consciousness (LOC): when a
involuntary body functions patient is not oriented, does not follow
• axon: portion of the neuron that conducts commands, or needs persistent stimuli to
impulses away from the cell body achieve a state of alertness
• Babinski reflex (sign): a reflex action of the • brain death: irreversible loss of all functions
toes; in adults is indicative of abnormalities of the entire brain, including the brain stem
in the motor control pathways leading from • coma: prolonged state of unconsciousness
the cerebral cortex • craniectomy: a surgical procedure that
• clonus: abnormal movement marked by involves removal of a portion of the skull
alternating contraction and relaxation of a • craniotomy: a surgical procedure that
muscle occurring in rapid succession involves entry into the cranial vault
• delirium: an acute, confused state that • Cushing’s response: the brain’s attempt to
begins with disorientation and if not restore blood flow by increasing arterial
recognized and treated early can progress pressure to overcome the increased
to changes in level of consciousness, intracranial pressure (synonym: Cushing’s
irreversible brain damage, and sometimes reflex)
death • decerebration: an abnormal body posture
• dendrite: portion of the neuron that associated with severe brain injury,
conducts impulses toward the cell body characterized by extreme extension of the
• flaccidity: displaying lack of muscle tone; upper and lower extremities
limp, floppy • decortication: an abnormal posture
• parasympathetic nervous system: division of associated with severe brain injury,
the autonomic nervous system active characterized by abnormal flexion of the
primarily during nonstressful conditions, upper extremities and extension of the
controlling mostly visceral functions lower extremities
• position (postural) sense: awareness of • delirium: an acute, confused state that
position of parts of the body without begins with disorientation and if not
looking at them (synonym: proprioception) recognized and treated early can progress
• reflex: an automatic response to stimuli to changes in level of consciousness,
• rigidity: increase in muscle tone at rest irreversible brain damage, and sometimes
characterized by increased resistance to death
passive stretch • dementia: broad term for a syndrome
• Romberg test: test for cerebellar dysfunction characterized by a general decline in
that can be done with the patient seated or higher brain functioning, such as reasoning,
standing; inability to maintain position for with a pattern of eventual decline in the
20 seconds is a positive test ability to perform even basic activities of
• spasticity: sustained increase in tension of daily living, such as toileting and eating
a muscle when it is passively lengthened • epilepsy: at least two unprovoked seizures
or stretched occurring more than 24 hours apart
• sympathetic nervous system: division of the • herniation: abnormal protrusion of tissue
autonomic nervous system with through a defect or natural opening
predominantly excitatory responses • intracranial pressure (ICP): pressure
(synonym: the “fightor-flight” system) exerted by the volume of the intracranial
contents within the cranial vault
• locked-in syndrome: condition resulting from • dysarthria: defects of articulation due to
a lesion in the pons in which the patient neurologic causes
lacks all distal motor activity (paralysis) but • dysphagia: difficulty swallowing
cognition is intact • expressive aphasia: inability to express
• migraine: a severe, unrelenting headache oneself; often associated with damage to
often accompanied by symptoms such as the left frontal lobe area
nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances • hemianopsia: blindness of half of the field of
• minimally conscious state: a state in which vision in one or both eyes
the patient demonstrates awareness but • hemiparesis: weakness of one side of the
cannot communicate thoughts or feelings body, or part of it, due to an injury in the
• Monro–Kellie hypothesis: theory that states motor area of the brain
that due to limited space for expansion • hemiplegia: paralysis of one side of the
within the skull, an increase in any one of body, or part of it, due to an injury in the
the cranial contents—brain tissue, blood, motor area of the brain
or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)—causes a • infarction: tissue necrosis in an area
change in the volume of the others deprived of blood supply
(synonym: Monro–Kellie doctrine) • penumbra region: area of low cerebral
• persistent vegetative state: condition in which blood flow
the patient is wakeful but devoid of • receptive aphasia: inability to understand
conscious content, without cognitive or what someone else is saying; often
affective mental function associated with damage to the temporal
• primary headache: a headache for which no lobe area
specific organic cause can be found
• pseudobulbar affect: emotional disturbance Management of Patients with Neurologic Trauma
characterized by uncontrollable episodes • autonomic dysreflexia: a life-threatening
of crying or laughing, or other emotional emergency in patients with spinal cord
displays injury that causes a hypertensive
• secondary headache: headache identified as emergency (synonym: autonomic
a symptom of another organic disorder hyperreflexia)
(e.g., brain tumor, hypertension) • complete spinal cord lesion: a condition that
• seizures: paroxysmal transient disturbance involves total loss of sensation and
of the brain resulting from a discharge of voluntary muscle control below the lesion
abnormal electrical activity • concussion: a temporary loss of neurologic
• status epilepticus: episode in which the function with no apparent structural
patient experiences multiple seizures with damage to the brain
no recovery time in between • contusion: bruising of the brain surface
• Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy • incomplete spinal cord lesion: a condition in
(SUDEP): nontraumatic, nondrowning which there is preservation of the sensory
unexpected death of patient with epilepsy or motor fibers, or both, below the lesion
• transsphenoidal: surgical approach to the • neurogenic bladder: bladder dysfunction
pituitary via the sphenoid sinuses that results from a disorder or dysfunction
of the nervous system; may result in either
Management of Patients with Cerebrovascular urinary retention or bladder over activity
Disorders • paraplegia: paralysis of the lower
• agnosia: loss of ability to recognize objects extremities with dysfunction of the bowel
through a particular sensory system; may and bladder from a lesion in the thoracic,
be visual, auditory, or tactile lumbar, or sacral region of the spinal cord
• aneurysm: a weakening or bulge in an • primary injury: initial damage to the brain
arterial wall that results from the traumatic event
• aphasia: inability to express oneself or to • secondary injury: an insult to the brain
understand language subsequent to the original traumatic event
• apraxia: inability to perform previously • spinal cord injury (SCI): an injury to the
learned purposeful motor acts on a spinal cord, vertebral column, supporting
voluntary basis soft tissue, or intervertebral discs caused
by trauma
• tetraplegia: varying degrees of paralysis of tendon reflexes, and diminished superficial
both arms and legs, with dysfunction of reflexes
bowel and bladder from a lesion of the
cervical segments of the spinal cord;
formerly called quadriplegia
• transection: severing of the spinal cord;
transection can be complete (all the way
through the cord) or incomplete (partially
through)
• traumatic brain injury: an injury to the skull
or brain that is severe enough to interfere
with normal functioning (synonym:
craniocerebral trauma)
• traumatic brain injury, closed (blunt): occurs
when the head accelerates and then
rapidly decelerates or collides with another
object and brain tissue is damaged, but
there is no opening through the skull and
dura
• traumatic brain injury, open (penetrating):
occurs when an object penetrates the skull,
enters the brain, and damages the soft
brain tissue in its path (penetrating injury),
or when blunt trauma to the head is so
severe that it opens the scalp, skull, and
dura to expose the brain

Management of Patients with Neurologic

Infections, Autoimmune Disorders, and
Neuropathies
• ataxia: impaired coordination of movement
during voluntary movement
• diplopia: the awareness of two images of
the same object occurring in one or both
eyes (synonym: double vision)
• dysphagia: difficulty swallowing
• dysphonia: voice impairment or altered
voice production
• hemiparesis: weakness of one side of the
body, or part of it, due to an injury in the
motor area of the brain
• hemiplegia: paralysis of one side of the
body, or part of it, due to an injury in the
motor area of the brain
• neuropathy: general term indicating a
disorder of the nervous system
• paresthesia: numbness, tingling, or a “pins
and needles” sensation
• prion: a pathogen smaller than a virus that
is resistant to standard sterilization
procedures
• ptosis: drooping of the eyelids
• spasticity: muscular hypertonicity with
increased resistance to stretch often
associated with weakness, increased deep