Chapter 14 - Nervous Flashcards
Akathisia
Inability to remain still; motor restlessness and anxiety.
Akinesia
Loss or lack of voluntary motion.
a- (lack of), -kinesia (motion, movement)
Amnesia
Condition in which there is a loss or lack of memory.
a- (lack of), mnes (memory), -ia (condition)
Analgesia
Condition in which there is a lack of the sensation of pain.
an- (lack of), -algesia (condition of pain)
Anencephaly
Congenital condition in which there is a lack of development of the brain.
an- (lack of), encephal (brain), -y (condition)
Anesthesia
Literally means loss or lack of the sense of feeling; a pharmacologically induced reversible state of amnesia, analgesia, loss of responsiveness, loss of skeletal muscle reflexes, and decreased stress response.
an- (lack of), -esthesia (feeling)
Aphasia
Literally means a lack of the ability to speak. It is a language disorder in which there is an impairment of producing or comprehending spoken or written language due to brain damage.
a- (lack of), -phasia (to speak, speech)
Apraxia
Loss or lack of the ability to use objects properly and to recognize common ones; inability to preform motor tasks or activities of daily living, such as dressing and bathing.
a- (lack of), -praxia (action)
Asthenia
Loss or lack of strength.
a- (lack of), -sthenia (strength)
Ataxia
Literally means loss or lack of order; neurological sign and symptom consisting of lack of coordination of muscle movements.
a- (lack of), -taxia (order coordination)
Bradykinesia
Abnormal slowness of motion.
brady- (slow), -kinesia (motion, movement)
Cephalalgia
Head pain; headache.
cephal (head), -algia (pain)
Chorea
Abnormal involuntary movement disorder, one of a group of neurological disorders called dyskinesias; characterized by episodes of rapid, jerky involuntary muscular twitching of the limbs or facial muscles.
Coma
Unconscious state or stupor from which the patient cannot be aroused.
Concussion (brain)
Head injury with a transient loss of brain function; may also be called mild brain injury, mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), mild head injury (MHI), and minor head trauma.
concuss (shaken violently), -ion (process)
Craniectomy
Surgical excision of a portion of the skull.
cran/i (skull), -ectomy (surgical excision)
Craniotomy
Literally means surgical incision into the skull. It is a surgical operation in which a bone flap is removed from the skull to access the brain.
crani/o (skull), -tomy (incision)
Dementia
Group of symptoms marked by memory loss and loss of other cognitive functions such as perception, thinking, reasoning, and remembering.
de- (down), ment (mind), -ia (condition)
Dyslexia
Condition in which an individual has difficulty in reading and comprehending written language.
dys- (difficult), -lexia (diction, word, phrase)
Dysphasia
Impairment of speech that may be caused by a brain lesion.
dys- (difficult), -phasia (speak, speech)
Encephalopathy
Any pathological dysfunction of the brain. HIV encephalopathy is called AIDS-dementia complex.
encephal/o (brain), -pathy (disease)
Hemiparesis
Weakness on one side of the body that can be caused by a stroke, cerebral palsy, brain amor, multiple sclerosis, and other brain and nervous system diseases.
hemi- (half), -paresis (weakness)
Hemiplegia
Paralysis of one-half of the body when it is divided along the median sagittal plane; total paralysis of the arm, leg, and trunk on the same side of the body. Stroke is the most common cause of this condition.
hemi- (half), -plegia (stroke, paralysis)
Hydrocephalus
Condition in which there is an increased amount of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles of the brain, causing the head to be enlarged.
hydro- (water), cephalic (head), -us (pertaining to)
Meningitis
Inflammation of the meninges pf the spinal cord or brain. With early diagnosis and prompt treatment, most patients recover from meningitis. Individuals with bacterial meningitis are usually hospitalized for treatment.
mening (membrane, meninges), -itis (inflammation)
Microcephalus
Abnormally small head; congenital anomaly characterized by an abnormal smallness of the head in relation to the rest of the body.
micro- (small), cephal (head), -us (pertaining to)
Narcolepsy
Chronic condition with recurrent attacks of uncontrollable drowsiness and sleep.
narc/o (numbness, sleep, stupor), -lepsy (seizure)
Palsy
Pathological loss of sensation or an impairment of motor function; also called paralysis.
Papilledema
Swelling of the optic disk, usually caused by increased intracranial pressure (ICP); also called choked disk.
papill (papilla), -edema (swelling)
Paraplegia
Paralysis of the lower part of the body and of both legs.
para- (beside), -plegia (stroke, paralysis)
Paresis
Slight, partial, or incomplete paralysis.
Paresthesia
Abnormal sensation, feeling of numbness, prickling, or tingling.
par- (beside), -esthesia (feeling)
Paroxysm
Sudden recurrence of symptoms of a disease, an exacerbation; also means a spasm or seizure.
Pheochromocytoma
Chromaffin cell tumor of the adrenal medulla or of the sympathetic nervous system.
phe/o (dusky), chrom/o (color), cyt (cell), -oma (tumor)
Polyneuritis
Literally means inflammation involving many nerves.
poly- (many), neur (nerve), -itis (inflammation)
Quadriplegia
Paralysis of all four extremities and usually the trunk due to injury to the spinal cord in the cervical spine; also called tetraplegia.
quadri- (four), -plegia (stroke, paralysis)
Spondylosyndesis
Surgical procedure to bind vertebra after removal of a herniated disk; also called spinal fusion.
spondyl/o (vertebra), syn- (together), -desis (binding)
Stroke
Death of focal brain tissue that occurs when the brain does not get sufficient blood and oxygen; also called cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or brain attack.
sundowning
Increased agitation or restlessness that occurs in the late afternoon or early evening in patients with cognitive impairment; most common with Alzheimer-type dementia and Parkinson disease.
Syncope
Temporary loss of consciousness caused by a lack of blood supply to the brain; also called fainting.
ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
MS
Multiple sclerosis
TIA
Transient ischemic attack
