Cognition Flashcards
Agnosia
the loss of sensory ability to recognize objects. For example, a person may lose the ability to recognize familiar sounds (auditory agnosia) such as the ring of the telephone. Loss of this ability extends to the inability to recognize familiar objects (visual or tactile agnosia) such as a glass, magazine, pencil, or toothbrush.
Agraphia
occurs early in Alzheimer’s disease. It is the diminished ability and eventual inability to read or write.
Alzheimer’s disease
is commonly characterized by progressive deterioration of cognitive functioning
Aphasia
is the loss of language ability. Initially, the person has difficulty finding the correct word, then is reduced to a few words, and finally is reduced to babbling or mutism.
Apraxia
is the loss of purposeful movement in the absence of motor or sensory impairment. This results in the inability to perform once-familiar and purposeful tasks. For example, in apraxia of dressing, the person is unable to put clothes on properly (may put arms in trousers or put a jacket on upside down).
Confabulation
is the creation of stories or answers in place of actual memories to maintain self-esteem. For example, the nurse addresses a patient who has remained in a hospital bed all weekend:
Nurse: Good morning, Ms. Jones. How was your weekend?
Patient: Wonderful. I discussed politics with the president, and he took me out to dinner.
or
Patient: I spent the weekend with my daughter and her family.
Confabulation is not the same as lying. When people are lying, they are aware of making up an answer. Confabulation is unconscious.
delirium
Delirium is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention to prevent irreversible and serious damage. Delirium is associated with increased morbidity and mortality and can have lasting long-term consequences such as permanent cognitive decline. In hospitalized patients, delirium is associated with longer hospital stays and increased complications.
dementia
Dementia is a broad term used to describe progressive deterioration of cognitive functioning and global impairment of intellect. It is a term that does not refer to specific disease, but rather a collection of symptoms. The DSM-5 (APA, 2013) incorporates dementia into the diagnostic categories of mild and major neurocognitive disorders. These disorders are characterized by cognitive impairments that signal a decline from previous functioning.
executive function
Plan and problem solve
hallucinations
Hallucinations are false sensory stimuli. Visual hallucinations are common in delirium, although tactile hallucinations may also be present. For example, individuals experiencing delirium may become terrified when they see giant spiders crawling over the bedclothes or feel bugs crawling on or under their bodies. Auditory hallucinations occur more often in other psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.
hypermetamorphosis
refers to the urge to touch everything.
hyperorality
refers to the tendency to taste, chew, and put everything in the mouth.
hypervigilance
patients are extraordinarily alert, and their eyes constantly scan the room
illusions
are errors in perception of sensory stimuli. A person may mistake folds in the blanket for white rats or the cord of a window blind for a snake. The stimulus is a real object in the environment. However, the individual misinterprets it, and it often becomes the object of the patient’s projected fear. Unlike delusions or hallucinations, you can explain and clarify illusions for the individual.
major neurocognitive disorder
commonly referred to as dementia, which is progressive and irreversible
