Neuro Flashcards
List components of a full mental status exam and compare it to components of a Mini Mental State exam.
Mini Mental Status is brief - measuring orientation, registration, attention and calculation, recall, ability to follow commands, and language
Full Mental Status (MoCA) - Is much more broad and has higher sensitivity and specificity
- Excessively energetic movements or constantly watchful eyes suggest
tension, mania, anxiety, a metabolic disorder, or the effects of recreational or prescription drug use (e.g., methamphetamine, amphetamine salts, cocaine, and steroids).
- Slumped posture and a lack of facial expression may indicate
depression or a neurologic condition such as Parkinson disease.
- Person disorientation results from
cerebral trauma, seizures, or amnesia.
- Place disorientation occurs with
psychiatric disorders, delirium, and cognitive impairment.
- Time disorientation is associated with
anxiety, delirium, depression, and cognitive impairment.
The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to quantify the
level of consciousness after an acute brain injury or medical condition
- Signs of possible cognitive impairment include the following
significant memory loss, confusion (impaired cognitive function with disorientation, attention and memory deficits, and difficulty answering questions or following multiple-step directions), impaired communication, inappropriate affect, personal care difficulties, hazardous behavior, agitation, and suspiciousness
An inability to describe similarities or differences in analogies
may indicate a lesion of the left or dominant cerebral hemisphere.
- Abstract reasoning: Ask the patient to tell you the meaning of a fable, proverb, or metaphor, such as the following:
- A stitch in time saves nine.
- When the patient has average intelligence, an adequate interpretation should be given.
- Inability to explain a phrase may indicate
poor cognition, dementia, brain damage, or schizophrenia.
- Impairment of arithmetic skills may be associated with
depression, cognitive impairment, and diffuse brain disease.
- Aphasia:
a speech disorder that can be receptive (understanding language) or expressive (speaking language), may be indicated by hesitations and other speech rhythm disturbances, omission of syllables or words, word transposition, circumlocutions, and neologisms.
- Aphasia can result from facial muscle or tongue weakness or from neurologic damage to brain regions controlling speech and language
Immediate recall or new learning: Ask the patient to listen and then repeat a sentence or a series of numbers. Five to eight numbers forward or four to six numbers backward can usually be repeated.
- Loss of immediate and recent memory with retention of remote memory suggests
dementia.
3 word recall
Recent memory: Give the patient a short time to view four or five test objects, telling him or her that you will ask about them in a few minutes. Ten minutes later, ask the patient to list the objects. All objects should be remembered.
- Loss of immediate and recent memory with retention of remote memory
suggests dementia
Remote memory
: Ask the patient about verifiable past events or information such as sibling’s name, high school attended, or a subject of common knowledge.
Distinguish between the following terms: confusion, lethargy, delirium, stupor, and coma.
Confusion: Inability to think or reason in a focused, clear manner.
Lethargy: falls asleep without repeated stimulation
Delirium: fluctuating acute confusion
Stupor: requires vigorous and/or painful physical stimulation to be awakened
Coma: not able to be aroused by any stimulus any sort and no response to the environment
Aphasia
can result from facial muscle or tongue weakness or from neurologic damage to brain regions controlling speech and language.