Brain Damage

Question 1

What are meningiomas?

Answer 1

• brain tumor encased in meninges
• encapsulated, growing within their own membranes
• usually benign & surgically removable

Question 2

What are strokes?

Answer 2

-sudden onset cerebrovascular event that causes brain damage

Question 3

What is a cerebral hemorrhage?

Answer 3

bleeding in the brain

Question 4

What is a cerebral ischemia?

Answer 4

disruption of blood supply

Question 5

What causes cerebral hemorrhages?

Answer 5

-aneurysms (weakened point in a blood vessel that makes stroke more likely)

Question 6

What causes cerebral ischemia?

Answer 6

• thrombosis (plug forms in brain)
• embolism (plug forms elsewhere and moves to the brain)
• arteriosclerosis (wall of blood vessels thicken, usually due to fat deposits)

Question 7

What is a contusion?

Answer 7

• closed head injuries
• damage to the cerebral circulatory system
• hematoma (bruise) forms

Question 8

What is a concussion?

Answer 8

• disturbance of consciousness following a blow to the head

- no evidence of structural damage

Question 9

What is punch-drunk syndrome?

Answer 9

dementia resulting from multiple concussions

Question 10

What is encephalitis?

Answer 10

inflammation of the brain by an invasion of microorganisms

Question 11

What is down syndrome and its characteristics?

Answer 11

• extra 21st chromosome created during ovulation
• characteristic disfigurement
• mental retardation
• other health problems

Question 12

What is an epileptic focus?

Answer 12

• seizures often preceded by an aura such as a smell, hallucination or feeling
• warns epileptic of an impending seizure

Question 13

What are the two types of partial seizures?

Answer 13

Simple & Complex

Question 14

What is a simple partial seizure?

Answer 14

• symptoms are primarily sensory or motor or both

- symptoms spread as epileptic discharge spreads

Question 15

What is a complex partial seizure?

Answer 15

• often restricted to the temporal lobes

- patient engages in compulsive and repetitive simple behaviors (automatisms)

Question 16

What are the two types of generalized seizures?

Answer 16

Grand mal & petit mal

Question 17

What is a grand mal seizure?

Answer 17

• loss of consciousness and equilibrium
• tonic-clonic convulsions
• rigidity & tremors

Question 18

What is a petit mal seizure?

Answer 18

• not associated with convulsions

- a disruption of consciousness associated with a cessation of ongoing behavior

Question 19

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Answer 19

• movement disorder
• tremor at rest is most common symptom
• dementia typically not seen

Question 20

What area of the brain shows degeneration in Parkinson’s disease?

Answer 20

-degeneration of the substantia nigra

Question 21

What is Huntington’s disease?

Answer 21

• begins with increased fidgetiness
• progresses to rapid, complex jerky movements of entire limbs
• motor and intellectual deterioration becomes progressively severe

Question 22

What causes Huntington’s disease?

Answer 22

Single mutated dominant gene that normally produces the protein huntingtin

Question 23

What is multiple sclerosis and what are its symptoms?

Answer 23

• progressive disease that attacks the CNS mylein leaving areas of hard scar tissue
• symptoms include visual disturbances, muscle weakness, numbness, tremor and loss of motor coordination

Question 24

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 24

• most common cause of dementia

- progressive, early stages characterized by confusion and selective decline in memory

Question 25

How is Alzheimer’s difinitively diagnosed?

Answer 25

Presence of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques at autopsy

Question 26

What is neural degeneration?

Answer 26

deterioration of neural cells

Question 27

What is neural regeneration?

Answer 27

regrowth of damaged neurons

Question 28

What is anterograde degeneration?

Answer 28

• degeneration of the distal segment

- between the cut and synaptic terminals

Question 29

What is retrograde degeneration?

Answer 29

• degeneration of the proximal segment

- between the cut and cell body

Question 30

Where does neural regeneration occur?

Answer 30

• nonexistent in the CNS

- unlikely, but possible in the PNS

Question 31

How does regeneration in the PNS occur?

Answer 31

• if original myelin sheath intact, axons may grow through them to original targets
• if nerve is severed and ends separated, they may grow into incorrect sheaths
• if ends are widely separated, no meaningful regeneration will occur