Brainstem

Ethical Debates involving Anencephalic Neonates: Ethical debates involving anencephalic neonates include the boundaries of organ procurement and the technical term used to describe the death of the neonates. Hospitals follow the cardiorespiratory criteria or in layman terms ‘the dead donor rule’ for standard organ procurement rules. This rule states that the patient has to be pronounced brain dead before his or her organs can be taken from them. Brain death involves failure of heart, failure…

Hearing is a critical sense of a human being. Ability to hear, especially in children, is crucial in the process of developing adequate communication, language and speech (Northern & Downs, 2014). Timely and accurate identification of hearing loss facilitates early intervention and appropriate educational support, which allow children to reach their full potential (Northern & Downs, 2014). Assessing hearing in children is a complex process, which requires a comprehensive holistic approach.…

As one ages, new and more difficult physical and mental health problems arise. Among those issues are diseases such as arthritis, dementia, and osteoporosis. In particular, Dementia is a syndrome that results in the loss of memory and other intellectual capabilities occurring most often as one ages, “affecting 1.4 million people and their families” (LBD Association). Lewy Body Dementia is the second most common type of dementia following Alzheimer's. The disease causes degeneration of the brain…

consciousness and will. They involve integration at the cerebral cortex and they can be initiated at will without external stimuli. All areas of CNS are involved in this process. The information flows from the motor area in frontal lobe through brainstem and spinal cord to the motoneurons. Rhythmic movements occur in cycle of similar movements such as reflex and voluntary movements. This locomotion is initiated and terminated by input from the cerebral cortex. Feedforward reflexes allows the…

Stroke is a cerebrovascular accident with sudden onset of focal neurological deficits(s) from either infarction or hemorrhage within the brain. • Ischemic stroke (thrombotic or embolic); 87% • Hemorrhagic stroke (intracerebral or subarachnoid); 13% Risk factors • Age: >45 years; highest during the 7th and 8th decades • Male > Female (3:1), equalizes after menopause • Family history/genetics • Prior stroke or TIA • Smoking, heavy alcohol use, substance abuse (cocaine, amphetamines) •…

Psychological Evaluation and Psychiatric Issues Symptoms associated with CTE are currently classified according to whether problems or changes are observed in cognitive processing, mood, or behaviour. Symptoms in these areas are usually diagnosed years or even decades after repetitive brain trauma when the neurodegeneration progresses to the point that changes in cognition, mood, or behaviour begins to interfere with daily functioning. Changes in these three symptom areas can be mild at first…

within the myelencephalon. The myelencephalon is a subdivision of the brain used to describe the area that gives way to development of the medulla oblongata. Often referred to simply as the medulla, the medulla oblongata is the lower half of the brainstem and along with the spinal cord contains many small nuclei involved in a wide…

Mrs Carter is suffering from left sided hemiplegic, this is, a unilateral paralysis of the left arm, leg, face and tongue; It may affect other functions such as hearing, general sensation and circulation. Nerves cross in the brainstem, so damage of the right side of the brain causes left sided paralysis. Similarly, whereas damage to the left side causes right sided paralysis. The Mild speech impairment which Mrs Carter is suffering from is caused by damage to the language centre of the brain…

about 5,000 taste buds or more, and each of these taste buds have 100 sensory cells that are most commonly stimulated by sugar, salt, and other acid. These sensory cells are the ones sending impulses to the cranial nerves, which can be found in the brainstem. It would then send the message to the thalamus going to the cerebral cortex that tells us what we just tasted. It may be a long process but it is obviously fast especially if we have tasted the food before. So if you try tasting foods that…

Six years imprisoned in her own body, unable to communicate with anyone, and with no one knowing she was alert. Julia Tavalaro was 27 when she suffered multiple strokes and fell victim to the rare Locked-In Syndrome. None of her family noticed that Tavalaro was awake or trying to communicate with them, it was a therapists who noticed that Tavalaro seemed to follow her with her eyes. A disease often misdiagnosed by doctors as a vegetative state, or pseudo-coma. She was trapped without anyone…