Definitions Flashcards
Dermatome
Area of skin supplied by a single spinal sensory nerve
Pain
Unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage
Noiceptor
A high-threshold sensory receptor of the peripheral somatosensory nervous system that is capable of transducing and encoding noxious stimuli. Free nerve ending
Hyperalgesia
Increased pain from a stimulus that normally provokes pain
Neuropathic Pain
Pain caused by lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system
Allodynia
Pain due to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain
Sensitisation (pain)
Increased responsiveness of nociceptive neurons to their normal input, and/or recruitment of a response to normally subthreshold inputs
Radicular Pain
Pain that radiates along the dermatome of the nerve due to inflammation/irritation of the nerve root
Referred Pain
Pain perceived at a location other than the site of painful stimulus, as a result of viscerosomatic convergence into same spinothalamic region
Yellow flag symptom
Psycho-social barriers to recovery - patient is at risk of developing persistent chronic pain and LT disability
Equlibrium potential
membrane potential where the no of ions entering the cell is equal to the number of ions leaving the cell
Temporal summation
Temporal summation occurs when a single pre-synaptic neuron fires many times in succession, causing the post-synaptic neuron to reach its threshold and fire
Spatial summation
Spatial summation occurs when excitatory potentials from many different pre-synaptic neurons cause the post-synaptic neuron to reach its threshold and fire
Sensory unit
a single sensory nerve fibre and the receptors with which it is connected
Spinal shock
Loss of sensation accompanied by motor paralysis, temporary suppression of all reflex activity below level of spinal cord injury
Neurogenic shock
Type of shock caused by the sudden loss of sympathetic control.
TRIAD: hypotension, bradycardia, hypothermia
Autonomic dysreflexia
AKA autonomic hyperreflexia. Reaction of the autonomic NS to overstimulation
- most likely above T6
- hypertension, headaches, sweating
Motor Unit
a single motor neurone and the muscle fibres it innervates
Motor neurone pool
all the individual MN that innervate a single muscle (not fibres)
Proprioception
Feedback from peripheral sensory receptors on the position and movement of limbs
Vestibulo-ocular reflex
Reflex which allows images on the retina to be stabilised when the head is turning, by moving eyes in the opposite direction
Tinnitus
Perception of sounds in the absence of external auditory stimulus
Vertigo
Individual feels as if they/their surroundings are in a constant state of movement
Concussion
temp disturbance in brain function as a result of trauma
Consciousness
state of awareness of self and environment, ability to become orientated to new stimuli
Neural Plasticity
Response to damage where uninjured tissue adapts to take over function of injured tissue
Papilloedema
Visible distortion of the optic disc due to increased intra cranial pressure
- crescent = moderate
- halo = severe
