L22 - Disorders of Cognition Flashcards
1. Key domains of cognition: attention, memory, language, executive function, social cognition, higher order sensory function, high order motor function 2. Lesions producing amnesia, Korsakoff psychosis, viral encephalitis 3. Understand acute confusion 4. Learn the localisation of cognitive syndromes - language areas, functional areas within the frontal lobes, areas involved with higher sensory and motor processing. 5. Learn about Alzheimers disease as the most common cause of persistent cogn
What is retrograde amnesia?
Loss of memory of events leading up to a brain injury or insult.
What is post-traumatic amnesia?
Permanent loss of memory of events for a period following a brain injury.
Examples of domains of cognition
Memory Language Attention Praxis - cognition of movement Gnosis - cognition of perception Planning Understanding others
What are some examples of conscious memory?
- Episodic
- for events - Semantic
- knowledge - Working memory
- attention
What are some examples of unconscious memory?
- Procedural memory
- memories for skill, bike riding - Priming (being able to name a capital city)
- Conditioning (Pavlov’s dogs)
When assessing language of a patient what should we test?
- Fluency
- Comprehension
- Repetition
- Naming
What aspect of language is phonology?
The sounds
What aspect of language is syntax?
Structure of a sentence, how the words go together.
Semantics
Meaning of the language and the words within it.
Prosoidy
Way you use the words, change of pitches
What is Praxis?
Process by which a theory, lesson or skill is enacted or realised.
Praxis: Ideomotor
Selection of action
Praxis: Ideational
combining actions in a plan.
Praxis: Constructional
challenge of putting things together, actions involving environmental objects
What is gnosis?
KNOWLEDGE!
Describe apperceptive agnosia?
Person cannot reliably name, match or discriminate visually presented objects, despite adequate elementary visual function (visual fields, acuity and color vision)
Describe associative agnosia?
Person cannot use derived perceptual representation to access stored knowledge of objects function and association.
Can copy and match drawing but can’t identify it
State some sub-domains of behaviour?
- Executive function
- ideational praxis - Social cognition
- Motivation / reward
- Attention
- verbal, non-verbal - Alertness / consciousness
Lesion in two different bits of the limbic system will still result in?
Impairment of episodic memory.
What is amnesia?
Impairment of episodic memory
What is Delirium?
An acute confusional state.
Damage to what area might result in amnesia?
Damage to hypothalamus.
What is korsakoff’s psychosis?
Late complication of persistent Wernicke encephalopathy
- results in memory deficits, confusion and behavioural changes.
Alexia
Acquired disorder of reading
Agraphia
Loss of disturbance of the abillity to write or spell
Dyslexia
Difficulty in reading and writing.
What is broca type aphasia?
AKA motor, anterior, expressive aphasia
speaking slowly, short sentences, getting the sequence wrong
In Wernicke’s aphasia where is the lesion found?
- posterior 2/3rds of superior temporal gyrus
Which BV is affected in stroke?
Stroke can be a recognised cause of aphasia
Middle cerebral artery.
Why is it unusual to have profound aphasia with Multiple Sclerosis?
Aphasia generally is a cortical syndrome.
Whereas autoimmunity problem in MS is against the myelin
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Chronic neurodegenerative disease, usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time.
most common cause of persistent cognitive impairment.
