Neurological Assessment Slides 21- 40 Flashcards
Cognitive Abilities and Mentation
Immediate memory (sec-min) – Ask to repeat 3-4 unrelated words
Recent memory (min-hrs) – Ask who “I” am, last meal, last visitor
Remote memory (days-yrs) – Ask the birthday, anniversary, last President, favorite President
Abstract reasoning skills – Meaning of a proverb, simple math
Interpretation of stimuli – Visual, auditory, tactile
Owo
3
Motor System (Cerebellum)
Coordination
Ataxia – is a term fora group of disorders that affect coordination, balance and speech. Any part of the body can be affected, but people with ataxia often have difficulties with: balance, walking, speaking.
-Romberg test
-Gait and Balance
- Heel-toe walk (Tandem test)
Motor System
Comatose posturing
–Decorticate Rigidity (abnormal flexion)
Decerebrate Rigidity (abnormal extension)
Flaccid Quadriplegia (nonfunctional brain stem)
Opisthotonos (meningeal irritation)
is a term fora group of disorders that affect coordination, balance and speech. Any part of the body can be affected, but people with ataxia often have difficulties with: balance, walking, speaking.
Ataxia
Gait Abnormalities
Spastic hemiparesis
Cerebellar ataxia
Parkinsonian
stroke, immobile arm against body, stiff/extended leg, toe drag. It is a neuromuscular condition of spasticity that results in the muscles on one side of the body being in a constant state of contraction.
Spastic hemiparesis
loss of position sense, staggering, alcohol (barbiturate). It is a sudden, uncoordinated muscle movement due to disease or injury to the cerebellum.
Cerebellar ataxia
basal ganglia defects, stooped posture, trunk forward. It is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.
Parkinsonian
it is a type ofspasticparaparetic gait in which the muscle tone in the adductors is marked. It is characterized byhypertoniaand flexion in the legs, hips and pelvis accompanied by extreme adduction leading to the knees and thighs hitting, or sometimes even crossing, in a scissors-like movement.
Scissors
lower motor neuron defect. sthe inability to lift the foot while walking due to the weakness of muscles that cause dorsiflexion of the ankle joint. Foot drop is not a commonly seen condition.
Steppage/footdrop
–weakness in your hip girdle and upper thigh muscles. To make up for the weakness, you sway from side to side and your hip drops with each step. It’s also called myopathic gait
Waddling
Motor System
Muscle size, strength, tone bilaterally
Tremor differentiation
Sensory Assessment
Exteroceptive sensation- (also termed superficial sensation): receptors in skin and mucous membranes
Proprioceptive sensation- (also termed deep sensation): receptors located in muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints
Cortical sensation- interpretative sensory functions that require analysis of individual sensory modalities by the parietal lobes to provide discrimination. Individual sensory modalities must be intact to measure cortical sensation.
Light Touch
Client sitting
Eyes closed
“Say where you are touched.”
Compare bilaterally, and distally to proximally.
