Brain Dysfunction Flashcards
What is a closed head injury?
Damage at the site of the blow is called a coup. The brain has been impacted because the bone is pushing. The skull doesn’t have to be fractured. The brain is pushed to the opposite end of the skull, because of the pressure, this is known as a countercoup. Brain movement can twist and damage fibres. This mainly damages the corpus callosum, frontal and temporal lobes. A cerebral haemorrhage can occur when there’s blood trapped in the skull, a mass grows and this builds pressure.
What is structural dysfunction?
Individual brain areas are damaged
e.g. stroke, dementia, traumatic brain injury
What is functional dysfunction?
The whole behaviour of the brain is impaired but each individual brain area works fine
e.g. autism, OCD, depression
What is an ischemic stroke?
80%
thrombotic: blood clot formed within the blood vessel, often builds up around atherosclerosis (60%)
embolic: clot formed outside of the blood vessel and travels to brain and becomes lodged, this can build up cholesterol coming from the neck blood vessels to the brain. This is atherosclerosis (20%)
What is atherosclerosis?
build up of fats, cholesterol and other substances in or on the artery walls
What is a haemorrhagic stroke?
20%
bleed from artery into the brain
blood builds up inside the skull and compresses brain tissue
brain soft, high blood pressure can squish it
interferes with normal cell function as there’s an abnormal flow of blood
some loss of blood flow is possible
What’s the difference between arteries and veins?
Vein: carry blood towards the heart
Artery: carries blood away from heart
How can a chronic ischemic stroke impact the Anterior Cerebral Artery?
Affects medial parts of the pre/post central gyrus
Sensory/motor loss
Executive dysfunction
How can a chronic ischemic stroke impact the Middle Cerebral Artery?
Affects the pre-central (motor) an post-central (sensory) gyrus on one side
Leads to semi-paralysis and loss of sensation on one side
Affects language
How can a chronic ischemic stroke impact the posterior central artery?
Affect vision, can cause blindness
Object recognition issues
Memory problems
What’s the treatment for an acute ischemic stroke?
drug that can reduce clots
must be sure it’s not a haemorrhage
must be done early, within 3-4 hours
early intervention may reduce extent of stroke
How can you treat a chronic ischemic stroke?
therapy for physical disabilities
therapy for language/cognitive abilities
adaptation to body/cognitive limitations
some natural recovery, particularly in young people
What is the treatment for a haemorrhagic stroke?
aneurysm clip
these stay in the brain forever
When does a closed head injury occur?
Rapid acceleration or deceleration
How do brain tumours occur? How can they impact an individual?
Arise from glial cells
Can be derived from cancer elsewhere in the body
Can cause compression/injury to brain tissue as they expand, if cortex is involved then seizures are common, slowly progressive
What are the requirements to diagnose someone with dementia?
Compromised memory and an impairment in 2 other cognitive domains
e.g. language, visuospatial skills, social, occupational, executive dysfunction
What type of disease is Alzheimer’s?
Neurodegenerative: cannot be stopped, it’s an automatic process
What are the behavioural deficits of Alzheimer’s disease?
behavioural: no changes in personality, psychosis, unawareness or denial of illness
no primary sensory or motor loss
What is retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia, anomic aphasia, circumlocutory language disorder and empty language impairment?
Occurs in Alzheimer’s
Retrograde: inability to remember past
Anterograde: inability to form new memories
Anomic aphasia: language disorder leading to trouble naming objects
Circumlocutory language disorder: instead of using it’s name, a patient refers to the characteristics of an object or event
Empty language: phonological disorder, where the patient has difficulty organising their speech into sounds
Where is the blood flow in Alzheimer’s disease?
lost: posterior/parietal areas
reserved: frontal lobes
What is dendrite arbour reduction?
Less connections with other neurons
Occurs in Alzheimer’s
What brain areas does Pick’s disease affect?
Frontotemporal dementia
What are the cognitive and behavioural deficits of Pick’s disease?
cognitive: language and memory impairment (temporal), executive dysfunction (frontal)
behavioural: early prominent personality changes, poor judgement, socially inappropriate, euphoric, sexual indiscretions
no sensory or motor deficits
What is Parkinson’s disease?
Hypokinetic
characterised by a partial or complete loss of muscle movement due to disruptions in the basal ganglia
there is a decrease in dopamine in the basal ganglia
inability to produce movement/muscle rigid
What is Huntington’s disease?
Hyperkinetic
characterised by frenetic energy or activity
genetically transmitted
onset around 40 years old
less common than PD
increase in dopamine in basal ganglia
What is the resting tremor in Parkinson’s disease?
Tremor of one hand is an early sign of PD
Often improve/disappear with purposeful function
What are the behavioural changes in Huntington’s disease?
Depression, mood swings
chorea: involuntary movements of the face, neck and limbs
athetosis: slow, writhing movements confined to the limbs
Dementia (cognitive impairments)
What is an open head injury?
Bone fragments penetrate the brain because the skull has been penetrated e.g. gunshots
Symptoms can undergo rapid and spontaneous recovery
To recover, you may need to surgically remove a small area of the brain
What are aneurysms?
Balloon-like expansions of vessels that are usually weak and prone to rupture
Can develop from arteriosclerosis, embolisms or infections
Can cause severe headaches for years, as there is a pressure on the dura matter where there are many pain receptors
