Medical and Psychiatric Terms

Question 1

Agnosia

Answer 1

Inability to interpret sensations and recognize things, typically as a result of brain damage

Question 2

Visual Agnosia

Answer 2

(AKA “psychic blindness”) or the impairment in recognizing visually presented objects despite otherwise normal visual field, acuity, color vision, brightness discrimination, language, and memory. Often involved in Kluver-Bucy syndrome which is related to damage in the amygdala and temporal lobes.

Question 3

Auditory Agnosia

Answer 3

refers to impairments in sound perception and identification despite intact hearing, cognitive functioning, and language abilities. Damage to the auditory cortex can cause this.

Question 4

Tactile Agnosia

Answer 4

an inability to recognize objects by touch. Often caused by damage to the parietal lobe/somatosensory cortex

Question 5

Asomatognosia

Answer 5

a lack of interest in or recognition of one or more parts of one’s own body. Often caused by damage to the parietal lobe/somatosensory cortex

Question 6

Anosognosia

Answer 6

a lack of insight into or awareness of one’s disorder. Often caused by damage to the parietal lobe/somatosensory cortex

Question 7

Prosopagnosia

Answer 7

involves an inability to recognize the faces of familiar people and, in some cases, the faces of pets and other familiar animals. It is usually caused by bilateral lesions in the occipitotemporal junction.

Question 8

Aphasia

Answer 8

loss of ability to understand or express speech, caused by brain damage.

Question 9

Anomia

Answer 9

a form of aphasia in which the patient is unable to recall the names of everyday objects.

Question 10

Broca’s Aphasia

Answer 10

AKA “expressive aphasia” and “nonfluent aphasia;” People with this disorder have slow, labored speech that consists primarily of nouns and verbs. They also exhibit impaired repetition and anomia, but their comprehension of written and spoken language is relatively intact. Caused by damage to Broca’s area.

Question 11

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Answer 11

AKA “receptive aphasia” and “fluent aphasia;” People with this disorder have impaired comprehension of written and spoken language, impaired repetition, and anomia. Although their speech is fluent, it contains many word substitutions and other errors and is devoid of meaning

Question 12

Conduction Aphasia

Answer 12

characterized by relatively intact comprehension with fluent speech that contains many errors, impaired repetition, and anomia. Conduction aphasia can occur when the arcuate fasciculus, which connects Wernicke’s area to Broca’s area, is damaged.

Question 13

Alogia

Answer 13

“poverty of speech;” inability to speak because of dysfunction in the central nervous system

Question 14

Ataxia

Answer 14

characterized by symptoms associated with alcohol intoxication and include a lack of muscle control, impaired balance and coordination, slurred speech, nystagmus (jerky eye movements), and blurred or double vision. Can be caused by damage to the cerebellum.

Question 15

Ideational Apraxia

Answer 15

inability to plan and execute a task that requires a sequence of actions (e.g., an inability to complete the steps needed to make a sandwich). Often caused by damage to the left (dominant) parietal lobe.

Question 16

Ideomotor Ataxia

Answer 16

impaired ability to perform a skilled gesture with a limb upon verbal command (e.g., “pretend to comb your hair”) and/or by imitation. Often caused by damage to the left (dominant) parietal lobe.

Question 17

Dystonia

Answer 17

Uncontrollable muscle contractions

Question 18

Akathisia

Answer 18

a sense of inner restlessness

Question 19

Achromatopsia

Answer 19

(loss of color vision), or cortical blindness often caused by damage to the occipital lobe

Question 20

Hyperphagia

Answer 20

excessive eating

Question 21

Hyperorality

Answer 21

tendency/compulsion to examine objects via mouth

Question 22

Kluver-Bucy Syndrome

Answer 22

bilateral damage to the amygdala and temporal lobes in monkeys causes this disorder, which is characterized by hyperphagia, hyperorality, reduced fear, hypersexuality, and visual agnosia.

Question 23

Athetosis

Answer 23

involves nonrhythmic, slow, writhing movements

Question 24

Chorea

Answer 24

a neurological disorder characterized by spasmodic involuntary movements of the limbs or facial muscles

Question 25

Cataplexy

Answer 25

sudden loss of muscle tone while a person is awake which leads to weakness and a loss of voluntary muscle control

Question 26

Echopraxia

Answer 26

meaningless imitations of movements just made by another person; often seen in Tic Disorders

Question 27

Echolalia

Answer 27

repetitions of vocalizations made by another person; often seen in ASD and Tic Disorders

Question 28

Stereotypy

Answer 28

the persistent repetition of an act for no obvious purpose; often seen in ASD

Question 29

Coprolalia

Answer 29

the involuntary and repetitive use of obscene language, as a symptom of mental illness or organic brain disease

Question 30

Avolition

Answer 30

total lack of motivation that makes it hard to get anything done

Question 31

Anhedonia

Answer 31

inability to feel pleasure

Question 32

Euthymia

Answer 32

a normal, tranquil mental state or mood

Question 33

Dysphoria

Answer 33

a state of unease or generalized dissatisfaction with life

Question 34

Confabulation

Answer 34

a memory error defined as the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world. Note that it is often involved in Korsakoff’s Syndrome.

Question 35

Ophthalmoplegia

Answer 35

paralysis of one or more extraocular muscles responsible for eye movements

Question 36

Synesthesia

Answer 36

Synesthesia is “a condition in which sensations in one sensory modality spontaneously trigger an associated sensation in another modality.” Synesthesia can involve any of the senses, but the most common type is grapheme-color synesthesia, in which numbers or letters are associated with specific colors. Synesthesia seems to have a genetic component, and there’s evidence that it’s due to increased cross-activation and cross-connectivity between the brain’s sensory areas.

Question 37

Tachycardia

Answer 37

heart rate over 100 beats per minute. Many types of irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) can cause tachycardia. A fast heart rate isn’t always a concern. For instance, the heart rate typically rises during exercise or as a response to stress.

Question 38

Bradycardia

Answer 38

a heart rate that’s too slow. What’s considered too slow can depend on your age and physical condition. Elderly people, for example, are more prone to bradycardia. In general, for adults, a resting heart rate of fewer than 60 beats per minute (BPM) qualifies as bradycardia.

Question 39

Myoclonus

Answer 39

muscle jerks that are not necessarily due to underlying disease (e.g., hiccups)

Question 40

Apnea

Answer 40

cessation of breathing for at least 10 seconds

Question 41

Hypopnea

Answer 41

10 seconds or more of shallow breathing in which a person’s airflow drops by at least 30%. At the same time, blood oxygen levels also drop by at least 3% or 4%.

Question 42

Enuresis

Answer 42

involuntary urination, especially by children at night

Question 43

Encopresis

Answer 43

sometimes called fecal incontinence or soiling, is the repeated passing of stool (usually involuntarily) into clothing

Question 44

Amenorrhea

Answer 44

an abnormal absence of menstruation

Question 45

Rhinorrhea

Answer 45

thin, mostly clear fluid running from the nose

Question 46

Lacrimation

Answer 46

abnormal or excessive secretion of tears

Question 47

Piloerection

Answer 47

a temporary raising of the hairs covering the surface of the skin caused by contraction of the piloerector muscles, which are attached to the individual follicles from which each hair arises. Piloerection is involuntary, being directed by the sympathetic nervous system, and elicited by cold, fear, or a startling stimulus.

Question 48

Open Head Injury

Answer 48

An open, or penetrating, head injury means you were hit with an object that broke the skull and entered the brain.

Question 49

Closed Head Injury

Answer 49

Closed-head injury is a type of traumatic brain injury in which the skull and dura mater remain intact.

Question 50

Orthostatic Hypotension

Answer 50

also called postural hypotension — is a form of low blood pressure that happens when standing after sitting or lying down. Orthostatic hypotension can cause dizziness or lightheadedness and possibly fainting