Neuro - Terms

Front 4

Hyperkinetic disorders

Back 4

Chorea, Athetosis, Ballism

Front 5

Chorea

Back 5

quick, irregular, involuntary, but relatively coordinated movement face, limbs, trunk

Front 6

Athetosis

Back 6

distal muscle postural fixation disorder; slower than chorea, writhing, sinuous, abnormal hand posture, slowly fluctuating grimaces

Front 7

Ballism

Back 7

proximal muscle postural fixation; wild flinging movement of limbs - usually unilateral.

Front 8

Intension Tremors

Back 8

Movement in the presence of intentional muscle movement.

Front 9

Resting Tremors

Back 9

Movement in the absence of intentional muscle movement. Frequently the “pill-rolling” motion.

Front 10

Agnosia

Back 10

inability to recognize and interpret objects, people, sounds, or smells despite intact primary sense organs (ex., inability to identify a sound despite intact hearing; inability to identify a coin placed in hand; They may, for example, know that a fork is something you eat with but may mistake it for a spoon or they may have the inability to recognize familiar faces). Typically results from damage to the occipital / parietal lobe. “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat”

Front 11

Akathisia

Back 11

a disorder characterized by a feeling of restlessness and a need for motor movement. Patients feels a compelling need to be in constant motion, such as rocking while standing or sitting, and crossing and uncrossing the legs while sitting. People with akathisia are unable to sit or keep still, complain of restlessness, fidget, rock from foot to foot, and pace

Front 12

Akinesia

Back 12

paucity of movement, slowness.

Front 13

Paucity

Back 13

Scarcity

Front 14

Allodynia

Back 14

condition in which an ordinarily painless stimulus is experienced as being painful (ex. the pant leg touching the thigh is described as uncomfortable)

Front 15

Anosognosia

Back 15

Lack of self-awareness – Individuals are unaware that they have a problem or disability. They have a lack of insight that they have disability. Suffers are unable to comprehend that they have a problem. (Ex. the schizophrenic who does not take his medicines because “there is nothing wrong with me”). The hemiplegic who finds excuses (other than paralysis) for not using his paralyzed arm.

Front 16

Apnea test

Back 16

Part of the “brain death exam”; verifies lack of responsiveness to increased carbon dioxide (paCO2 > 60 mm Hg) in the presence of respiratory acidosis (pH < 7.3). (The patient is taken off the ventilator for a certain amount of time to assess the brain stem’s response to increasing levels of PC02 / decreasing pH)

Front 17

Aphasia

Back 17

Inability to formulate or understand language. It may be expressive or receptive in nature or a combination of both.

Front 18

Apraxia

Back 18

Impaired planning/sequencing of movement that is not due to weakness, incoordination, or sensory loss. Although the movements cannot be performed for a specific situation, they may be performed under other circumstances (e.g., inability to lift feet off the floor when attempting to walk but preserved ability to perform bicycling movements of the legs while lying in bed). Results from dissociation of parts of the cerebrum and is often associated with parietal lobe lesions.

Front 19

Asterixis

Back 19

Sudden palmar flapping movement of the hands at the wrists; indicative of metabolic encephalopathy

Front 20

Ataxia

Back 20

Lack of coordination of movement usually due to disease of the cerebellum or damage to sensory pathways.

Front 21

Bradykinesia

Back 21

Slowed movement typically due to dysfunction of the basal ganglia and related structures.

Front 22

Charcot joint

Back 22

Progressive destruction and deformity of bone and soft tissue at weight bearing joints due to severe sensory or autonomic neuropathy.

Front 23

Chiari malformation

Back 23

CNS disorder characterized by cerebellar elongation and protrusion through the foramen magnum into the cervical spinal cord. Places these individuals at risk with extension of the head on the neck

Front 24

“Clasp knife”

Back 24

spring-like resistance to passive extension at the elbow or flexion at the knee that increases up to a certain length and force before suddenly relaxing as the Golgi tendon organ is activated; sign of spasticity.

Front 25

Cogwheeling

Back 25

Ratchet-like movement due to superimposition of tremor on rigidity.

Front 26

Dysarthria

Back 26

Inability to pronounce or articulate words due to disorders of the vocal apparatus (e.g., lips, tongue, larynx)

Front 27

Dysesthesia

Back 27

Pain or discomfort in response to a stimulus (e.g., touch) that would not be expected to cause pain.

Front 28

Dysphagia

Back 28

difficulty in swallowing

Front 29

Fasciculation

Back 29

spontaneous firing of an axon resulting in a visible twitch of all the muscle fibers it controls; indicative of denervation

Front 30

Hemiparesis

Back 30

weakness on one side of the body

Front 31

Hemiplegia

Back 31

paralysis on one side of the body

Front 32

Horner's syndrome

Back 32

ptosis, meiosis, and anhidrosis - ipsilateral to damaged sympathetic nerve fibers

Front 33

Kernig’s sign

Back 33

pain in the posterior aspect of the thigh in response to passive flexion of the thigh and extension of the knee; indicative of meningeal irritation

Front 34

Long-tract signs

Back 34

signs referable to impaired functioning of the corticospinal tract, spinothalamic tract, and dorsal columns/medial lemniscus

Front 35

Lower motor neuron

Back 35

neurons whose cell bodies are located in the brainstem or anterior horn of the spinal cord and that leave the CNS to connect to skeletal muscle; lesions result in flaccid weakness, reflex loss, atrophy, +/- fasciculations

Front 36

Meiosis

Back 36

pupillary constriction

Front 37

Neuropathy

Back 37

generally a disease nervous axons; manifested by varying combinations of lower motor neuron weakness or peripheral sensory loss that is typically distal > proximal; often with DTR reflex impairment or loss

Front 38

Nuchal rigidity

Back 38

stiff neck

Front 39

Paresthesia

Back 39

skin sensation, such as burning, prickling, itching, or tingling, with no apparent physical cause

Front 40

Reticular activating system (RAS)

Back 40

the activating mechanisms that lie in or near the central gray matter of the diencephalon, midbrain, and rostral pons and are responsible for mediating consciousness

Front 41

Rigidity

Back 41

increased resistance throughout the range of motion when passively moving a body part due to co-contraction of agonist and antagonist muscles ("lead pipe")

Front 42

Romberg test

Back 42

inability to maintain upright posture when feet together and eyes closed; assuming intact vestibular system, indicates impaired proprioception, or cerebellar disease

Front 43

Simple tic

Back 43

tic involving a limited number of muscles; simple vocal tics are meaningless noises such as grunting or throat clearing; simple motor tics are focal movements such as eye blinking or facial grimacing

Front 44

Spasticity

Back 44

is a condition in which certain muscles are continuously contracted or a subset of muscle fibers contract when they should be relaxed. This contraction causes stiffness or tightness of the muscles and can interfere with normal movement. Spasticity is caused by damage to upper motor neurons. The damage causes a change in the balance of signals between the nervous system and the muscles. This imbalance leads to increased activity in the muscles.

Front 45

Spondylosis

Back 45

degenerative disease of the vertebral column that can result in spinal cord compression. May include osteoarthritis, osteophytes, and disc disease

Front 46

Spondylolisthesis

Back 46

the condition in which a vertebral body, typically in the lower spine, slips forward and has a “step” when compared to the vertebra below it. May cause spinal cord compression

Front 47

Tic

Back 47

repetitive, stereotyped, simple or complex movements that can be voluntarily suppressed for short periods of time (e.g., eye blinking or throat clearing)

Front 48

Transient ischemic attack

Back 48

abrupt focal loss of neurologic function caused by reduction in blood flow that persists less than 24 hours and clears without residual disability

Front 49

Two-point discrimination

Back 49

an increase in the distance in which a patient distinguishes two differing points of stimulation. An increase in the distance of two-point discrimination suggests neuropathy. As an example, patients with significant carpal tunnel syndrome may demonstrate increase two-point discrimination

Front 50

Vertigo

Back 50

subjective sense of imbalance usually noted as an illusion of moving or spinning of the external world