Lecture 26: Disorders of the nervous system 1

Question 1

What are the four categories of mental and neurological disorders?

Answer 1

learning and developmental disabilities, neurological disorders, mental diseases and substance abuse disorders

Question 2

What do learning and developmental disabilities include?

Answer 2

functional limitations that manifest in infancy or childhood as a result of disorders of or injuries to the developing nervous system

Question 3

What are the most significant neurological diseases?

Answer 3

Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis

Question 4

What is dementia?

Answer 4

a deterioration of intellectual function and other cognitive skills
that is of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning

Question 5

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 5

the most common form of dementia

Question 6

What is Alzheimer’s characterised by?

Answer 6

deposition of amyloid protein and the disruption of the neuronal cytoskeleton

Question 7

What are the three main cytoskeleton protein polymers?

Answer 7

microtubules, neurofilaments and microfilaments

Question 8

What does deposition of amyloid protein lead to?

Answer 8

this may cause neurons to produce abnormal intracellular aggregations of tau protein which form neurofibrillary tangles -> may be the cause of neuronal death

Question 9

What is tau protein?

Answer 9

a protein which is normally present in neurons where it stabilises microtubules

Question 10

What is epilepsy?

Answer 10

a common brain disorder characterized by two or more unprovoked seizures

Question 11

What are seizures?

Answer 11

discrete events caused by transient, hyper-synchronous, abnormal neuronal activity

Question 12

When may seizures occur?

Answer 12

in close temporal association with acute stroke, sepsis, or alcohol withdrawal
however, the vast majority of seizures have no immediate identifiable cause

Question 13

What categories can epilepsy be divided into?

Answer 13

idiopathic epilepsy
secondary or symptomatic epilepsy
cryptogenic epilepsy

Question 14

What is idiopathic epilepsy?

Answer 14

though to have a genetic basis (10%)

Question 15

What is secondary or symptomatic epilepsy?

Answer 15

caused by a known central nervous system injury or disorder, such as infection, stroke or traumatic injury (20%)

Question 16

What is cryptogenic epilepsy?

Answer 16

for which there is no clear evidence of an etiological factor (60%)

Question 17

What are the genetic mutations underlying inherited epilepsy?

Answer 17

mutations within genes encoding proteins directly associated with neuronal excitability, such as ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors

Question 18

What is multiple sclerosis?

Answer 18

a chronic, autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of myelin in the CNS

Question 19

What are symptoms of MS?

Answer 19

changes in sensation, visual problems, muscle weakness, depression, difficulties with coordination and speech, severe fatigue, cognitive impairment, problems with balance, overheating, and pain

Question 20

What are mental disorders? What do they interfere with?

Answer 20

diseases that affect cognition, emotion, and behavioural control and substantially interfere both with the ability of children to learn and with the ability of adults to function in their families, at work, and in the broader society

Question 21

Which mental disorders do males have at higher rates?

Answer 21

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and substance use disorders

Question 22

Which mental disorders do females have at higher rates?

Answer 22

major depressive disorder, most anxiety disorders, and eating disorders

Question 23

What are the most significant mental disorders?

Answer 23

schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, major depressive disorder and panic disorder

Question 24

What causes mental diseases?

Answer 24

possible underlying pathophysiology