Neurology Flashcards
What are the components of the basal ganglia?
Thalmus
Caudate
Putamen
Lentiform nucleus
Amygdala
Subthalmic nucleus
Substantia Nigra
When a patient tells you “something doesn’t move right,” what are the two categories to consider?
- Weakness
- Unwanted movement and clumsiness
When a patient complains about weakness, what are the two categories that could cause that weakness?
- Upper motor neuron
- Motor unit
- Nerve or muscle is affected
When a patient complains of unwanted movement or clumsiness, what are the two categories that may be the cause of their symptoms?
- Cerebellum
- Basal ganglion
What symptoms will result from an Upper Motor Neuron disorder?
Muscles are not denervated!
Weakness
- brain (hemiparesis)
- spinal cord (paraparesis)
Childhood reflexes (Babinski)
Increased muscle tone
Increased tendon reflexes (myotatic)
Increased resistance to passive stretch
Spasticity/spastic paralysis
Slow Atrophy
What symptoms will result from a motor unit disorder?
Weakness
- Distal if nerve
- Proximal if muscle
- Focal if traumatic
Absence of childhood reflexes
Decrease in stretch reflexes
Atrophy of muscles
What abnormal movements will be present in a basal ganglia disorder?
Tremor at rest
Shuffling gait
Rigidity
Postural instability
Turning movements of the trunk (athetosis)
What abnormal movements will be present in a cerebellum disorder?
Tremor in motion
Broad based gait (as in Kuru)
Diminished tone
Nystagmus
Titubation (truncal tremor)
What are the modalities of somatic sensation?
Pain (sharp) / Temperature (C and A delta, ALSTS)
Position / Vibration (I and II, posterior columns)
Fine touch (A delta or C, ALSTS)
What sensation tests require cortical integration?
Two point descrimination
Simultaneous stimulation/extinction
Finger writing
Object recognition
How do locations of sensory loss differ between brain, spinal cord, and PNS lesions?
Brain- Hemi sensory loss with cortical signs
Spinal Cord- Para sensory loss, dissociated
PNS- Distal and Focal
Fast, focal CNS syndrome
Stroke:
Infarction (emboli in the heart or major vessels)
Hemorrhage
May improve with time
Slow focal CNS syndrome
“Tumor syndrome”
Neoplasms
Granuloma/abcess (TB)
Orthopedic (spine)
Don’t improve with time
Rapid diffuse CNS syndrome
Encephalopathy Syndrome
Infectious meningitis and encephalitis (viral and bacterial)
Acute cerebral anoxia (cardiac arrest, Vfib, Vtach, hemorrhage or hypoxia)
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Intoxication
Diffuse, slow, bilateral CNS lesions
Degenerative disorders=progressive loss of nerve cells in selected bilateral regions with no improvement over time
Cerebrum
- Alzheimers: hippocampus and cortex
- Parkinson’s disease: Substantia nigra
Cerebrum and spinal cord
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: anterior horn cells and descending motor pathways
- Toxic and metabolic disorders like diabetes, alcoholism, and vitamin dificiencies
Fast polyneuropathies
Guillian-Barre:
Autoimmune myelin disease
Ascending paralyis
Tx:
IV Ig or plasmapheresis
Slow polyneuropathies
Axon Disorders:
Diabetes, Alcohol abuse, Thiamine Deficiency and many others
Myelin disorders:
Chronic Idiopathic Distal Polyneuropathy
B12 Deficiency
Fast Focal Neuropathies
Trauma
Herpes (shingles)
Bells palsy, brachial plexitis, focal demyelination
Diabetes (neuron infarcts of CNIII, CNIV, femoral N.)
Slow, focal mononeuropathies
Compression (roots, plexi, named nerves)
Neoplasm (schwannoma)
note: there are no neural neoplasms in the PNS because the bodies are found in the Dorsal Root Ganglion
Synaptic disorders
Myasthenic disorders: slow, diffuse, inconsistant
Botulism: rapid and diffuse
Nerve agents: fast, diffuse, autonomic