brain damage and recovery Flashcards
what protects the CNS?
bone (skull and spinal vertebrae)/ blood brain barrier
what can cause damage to the CNS?
injury/disease/ age-related changes
who studies brain damage?
Clinical neuropsychologists/ Physiological psychologists
why study brain damage?
Increases our understanding of normal brain function/ to develop new treatments for brain damage
traumatic brain injury
Brain becomes injured by some external mechanical force/ closed head injury: skull not compromised
contusion
closed head injury, damage to cerebral circulatory system
concussion
Disturbed consciousness but no obvious structural damage
contusion symptoms
- loses consciousness
- memory loss
- problems with coordination
- changes in behaviour/ personality
- trouble with speech or vision
- There are instances where seizure occurs
concussion symptoms
- Loss of consciousness is one of the immediate symptoms of a concussion
- tinnitus
- headaches
- dizziness
- slurred speech
- sensitivity to light
- changes In personality
Diffuse Axonal Brain Injury
Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) is a traumatic brain injury
Caused by rapid movement of the brain in the skull
where parts of the brain shift during injury
Diffuse Axonal Brain Injury causes
axons rip apart/ neutrons die due to toxic levels of neurotransmitters released/ severe DAI is clinically characterised by a coma lasting 6+ hours
chronic traumatic encephalopathy
A neurodegenerative disorder arising from multiple blows to the head/ protein called Tau forms clumps that slowly spread throughout the brain, killing brain cells.
tumours
A cancerous mass of cells/ Meningiomas grow between the meninges of the brain
and encapsulates tumours
Meningiomas
Easy to identify on a CT scan / They cause symptoms by applying pressure on surrounding areas
Infiltrating Tumours
not encapsulated and grow diffusely through surrounding tissue
metastatic tumours
tumour that spreads from one area to the other
disease and brain damage
cerebrovascular events such as stroke/ neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimers disease, Parkinson’s, other dementias..
stroke
Sudden cerebrovascular events that cause brain damage/ 10,000 cases a year in Irish population: of these, 2,000 will die
types of strokes
Cerebral Haemorrhage (e.g. Aneurysm)/ cerebral ischaemia
Cerebral Haemmorhage (e.g. Aneurysm)
Ruptured blood vessel bleeds into the brain