Intro to neuro - terms

Question 1

What is dyskinesia?

Answer 1

• difficulty in performing voluntary muscle movements
• impairment in ability to control movements
• characterized by spasmodic or repetitive motions or lack of coordination
• fragmented or jerky movements

Question 2

What is bradykinesia?

Answer 2

• slow movement

- slowness in execution of movement

Question 3

What is akinesia?

Answer 3

• inability to initiate movement

- due to problems selecting and activating motor programs in the brain

Question 4

What is rigidity?

Answer 4

• an increase in resistance to passive movement
• responsible for characteristic flexed position
• slowness of voluntary movement: swinging of the arms while walking
• voluntary action may be briefly regained during an emergency: pt is able to leap aside to avoid oncoming vehicle

Question 5

What is chorea?

Answer 5

• “to dance” in greek
• brief irregular contractions not repetitive or rhythmic but appear to flow from one muscle to another
• occurs without conscious effort
• assoc with Huntington’s

Question 6

What is ballism?

Answer 6

• severe chorea
• slight movements become thrashing motions
• odd postures
• leg movements

Question 7

What is dysarthria?

Answer 7

• any of certain disorders of articulation caused by impairment of muscles used in speech, such as stammering or stuttering, caused by a nerve defect

Question 8

What is allodynia?

Answer 8

• condition in which ordinarily painless stimulus is experienced as being painful

Question 9

What is akathisia?

Answer 9

• motor restlessness, inability to sit still

Question 10

What is cataplexy?

Answer 10

• muscular weakness resulting in sudden loss of postural tone, often triggered by an emotional stimulus and resulting in falls to the floor, can be seen in *narcolepsy

Question 11

What is cogwheeling?

Answer 11

• ratchet like movement due to superimposition of tremor on rigidity

Question 12

What is facial masking (hypomimia)?

Answer 12

• decreased facial expression due to rigidity of facial muscles

Question 13

What is fasciculation?

Answer 13

• spontaneous firing of an axon resulting in a visible twitch of all the muscle fibers it contacts; indicative of denervation

Question 14

What is festination?

Answer 14

• an involuntary tendency to take short accelerating steps in walking that occur in parkinson’s

Question 15

What is freezing?

Answer 15

• sudden, brief cessation of movement, common in parkinson’s

Question 16

What is korsakoff syndrome?

Answer 16

• chronic phase of thiamine deficiency characterized by impairment in establishing new memories and retrieving previous memories, occurring most commonly in alcoholics

Question 17

What is myoclonus?

Answer 17

• sudden, shock like, jerking contraction of a group of muscles

Question 18

What is oculogyric crisis?

Answer 18

• acute dystonic rxn to neuroleptic drugs manifested by sudden sustained twisting of the head and upward deviation of the eyes; responsive to anticholinergic or antihistamine meds

Question 19

What is the on-off phenomenon?

Answer 19

• sudden, unpredictable changes in motor performance by pts on levodopa therapy

Question 20

What is palsy?

Answer 20

• paralysis of muscle group

Question 21

What is paraplegia?

Answer 21

• paralysis of both legs

Question 22

What is penumbra?

Answer 22

• area surrounding the dense core of irreversibly damaged cells that has preserved ionic homeostasis and reduced neuronal electrical activity but that is capable of recovery

Question 23

Tardive?

Answer 23

• sxs that develop slowly or appear long after inception, ex: tardive dyskinesia occurring after chronic exposure to dopamine antagonists

Question 24

What is a tic?

Answer 24

• repetitive, stereotyped, simple or complex movements that can be voluntarily suppressed for short periods of time (eye blinking or throat clearing)

Question 25

Torticollis?

Answer 25

• form of dystonia in which neck muscles contract involuntarily, causing head to turn

Question 26

Wearing off phenomenon?

Answer 26

• waning of effects of a dose of levodopa prior to the scheduled time for the next dose, resulting in decreased motor performance

Question 27

What is fluent aphasia (Wernicke’s or receptive aphasia)?

Answer 27

• impairment of language comprehension including impaired repetition due to lesion of posterior left superior temporal gyrus

Question 28

Athetosis?

Answer 28

• twisting and writhing movements

Question 29

Dystonia?

Answer 29

• sustained muscle contractions causing twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures

Question 30

What is oromandibular dystonia?

Answer 30

• sustained muscle contractions of the jaw and tongue, distortion of mouth and tongue

Question 31

Wat is facial and cervical dystonia?

Answer 31

• face muscles causing face to pull to one side

- cervicle: neck muscles causing head to rotate to one side or pull down toward the chest

Question 32

What is a blepharispasm?

Answer 32

• spasm of eye muscles

- repetitive blinking

Question 33

What is spastic dystonia?

Answer 33

• muscles of larynx spasms

- voice is broke or whispered