Behavior & Mental Status

Question 1

Which neurotransmitter regulates mood, arousal, and cognition?

Answer 1

Serotonin

Question 2

Which neurotransmitter regulates mood, arousal, attention, and cognition?

Answer 2

Norepinephrine

Question 3

Which neurotransmitter regulates mood, arousal, cognition, and motor control?

Answer 3

Dopamine

Question 4

Which neurotransmitter regulates sleep, arousal, and attention?

Answer 4

Acetylcholine

Question 5

What are common or concerning symptoms of cognition, behavior, and mental status?

Answer 5

Anxiety, excessive worrying
Depressed mood
Memory problems
Medically unexplained symptoms

Question 6

What are common risk facts in patients with anxiety?

Answer 6

Family hx, person hx of anxiety or mood d/o, childhood stressful life events or trauma, being female, chronic medical illness, and behavioral inhibition.

Question 7

When should general anxiety d/o be suspected?

Answer 7

When worrying that predominates as the nature of the complaint, or excessive worry persisting over a 4-wk period.

Question 8

What d/o is associated with recurrent sudden episodes of intense fear or discomfort that are unexpected or with intervening periods of living in fear or worrying of having another attack or facing the consequences of the attack?

Answer 8

Panic d/o

Question 9

Disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts and ritualistic bx

Answer 9

Obsessive-compulsive d/o

Question 10

What comorbid conditions accompany uncontrolled anxiety?

Answer 10

Hyperthyroidism, cardiopulmonary d/o, TBI, substance use, and mood d/o

Question 11

What are common risk factors for depression?

Answer 11

Personal/family hx, recent stressful life events or significant childhood adversity, chronic and/or disabling medical illness, and female gender.

Question 12

Sudden onset memory problems are concerning for what conditions?

Answer 12

Major vascular neurocognitive d/o, wherein vascular occlusion damages structures important for memory.

Question 13

What are the 6 key components of the MSE?

Answer 13

Appearance & bx; speech & language; mood; thoughts & perceptions; insight & judgment, and cognitive function

Question 14

When assessing appearance and bx, what should be evaluated?

Answer 14

LOC, posture and motor bx, dress, grooming, and personal hygiene, facial expression, manner, affect, and relationship to people and things

Question 15

What is dysarthria?

Answer 15

Defective articulation

Question 16

Define aphasia.

Answer 16

D/o of language

Question 17

What is dysphonia?

Answer 17

Impairment of volume, quality, or pitch of the voice

Question 18

A type of aphasia that is expressive with preserved comprehension w/ slow, non fluent speech

Answer 18

Broca aphasia

Question 19

Type of aphasia that is receptive with impaired comprehension w/ fluent speech.

Answer 19

Wernicke aphasia

Question 20

The pervasive and sustained emotion that colors the person’s perception of the world.

Answer 20

Mood

Question 21

What is alexithymia?

Answer 21

Struggle with naming emotions

Question 22

What is the logic, organization, coherence, and relevance of the patient’s thought as it leads to selected goals?

Answer 22

Thought process

Question 23

Sudden interruption of speech in mid sentence or before the idea is completed, attributed to “losing the thought”

Answer 23

Blocking

Question 24

Speech with unnecessary detail, indirection, and delay in reaching the point. Occurs in people with obsession, but can occur in people without mental d/o

Answer 24

Circumstantiality

Question 25

Speech with voice of words based on sound, rather than meaning, as in rhyming and punning. Occurs in schizophrenia and manic episodes

Answer 25

Clanging

Question 26

What 3 instructions are included in the mini-cog exam?

Answer 26

1. Instruct pt to listen and remember 2 unrelated words and then repeat the words.
2. Instruct pt to draw the face of a clock, either on a blank sheet of paper or on a sheet with the clock circle already drawn on the page. After the pt puts the numbers on the clock face, ask them to draw the hands of the clock to read a specific time.
3. Ask the pt to repeat the three previously stated words.

Question 27

What does the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) assess?

Answer 27

Attention and concentration; executive functions, memory, language, visuoconstructional skills, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation. Administered in 10 minutes.