Neurology Flashcards
What is the function of the frontal lobe?
Reasoning, movement, problem solving, behaviour. mood
What is the function of the parietal lobe?
Sensory, language functions
What is the function of the temporal lobe?
Hearing, memory (contains the hippocampus), understanding speech (wenicke’s areas)
What is the function of the amygdala?
Processing and memory of emotional reactions. In the medial temporal lobe.
What structures of the brain help coordinate gross and automatic muscle movement and coordinate muscle tone?
Basal ganglia, caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus
What is the role of the epithalamus?
Has pineal gland which secretes melatonin (sleepiness and regulates sleep/wake) and habenular nuclei (emotional response to olfaction)
What is the general role of the red nucleus and the substantia niagra?
Communicate with the basal ganglia, cerebellum and cerebrum and helps control body movement
What is the role of the hypothalamus?
Regulates emotional behaviours and patterns, controls body temperature, eating and drinking behaviour. Controls and integrates activities of the ANS and pituitary gland. Circadian rhythm. Helps in sleep/wake
What is the role of the superior colliculus?
Coordinates the movement of the eyeballs in response to visual or other stimuli.
Responsible for lateral upwards gaze
What is the role of the inferior colliculus?
Coordinates the movement of the head and trunk in response to auditory stimulus
What is the role of the cerebellum?
Smooths and coordinates skilled movement and regulates posture and balance. Involve in muscle tone.
What might a person look like with a CN 3 palsy?
Eye in the down and out position. Ptosis, pupil fixed and dilated.
What might a person look like with a CN 4 palsy?
Tortional diplopia, compensatory head tilt
What might a person with a CN 6 palsy look like?
Eye positioned medially due to reduced abduction of lateral rectus muscle.
What is the function of the brain stem?
Controls the flow of messages between the brain and the rest of the body. also controls HR, BP, breathing
Where is broccas area, what is it and what happens if it gets damaged?
Inferior frontal gyrus mostly on LEFT
Motor aspect of speech
If damaged - expressive aphasia, non-fluent, slow speech
Where is Wernicke’s area, what is it and what happens if it gets damaged?
Superior temporal gyrus - on dominant hemisphere (usually Left)
Understating speech
Damage - Receptive aphasia, extremely poor comprehension
Explain the spinothalamic pathway.
Sensory. Pain, crude touch, temperature.
Adelta and c fibres
Noxious stimuli activates free nerve endings which terminate in the dorsal root and synapses with the 2nd order neurone. Here it crosses over via the white commissure to the anterior lateral spinothtalmic tract.
Here it ascends up the spinal cord to the Ventral posteriolateral nucleus of the thalamus. Here it synapses with the 3rd order neurone and ascends through the internal capsule to the primary sensory cortex.
Explain the Dorsal column or medial leminsical pathway.
Fine touch, vibration, 2-point discrimination and proprioception.
Abeta fibers
Neurone enters the dorsal Horn and biforcates. One synapses in the dorsal root and the other enters the gracile fasiculus where it ascends up the spinal cord.
It remains on the same side often stimulation.
In the brainstem it synapses in the gracile nucleus and the 2nd order neurone crosses the midline as the internal arcuate fibres. It ascends to the VPL nucleus of the thalamus as the medial lemniscus, where it synapses with the 3rd order neurones and ascends up the internal capsule to the primary sensory cortex
What are some effects of an increased ICP?
Headache that is worse in the morning and worse on straining (cough or using the toilet) and stooping
Vomiting
Papilloedema
What are some symptoms of brain herniation?
Headache, seizures, loss of consciousness, coma, drowsy, dilated pupil, high BP, loss of reflexes
What is Acute confusional state (delirium)?
An acute, fluctuating change in mental status, with inattention, disorganised thinking and altered levels of consciousness. (over Hr-days) EEG abnormal
Give some signs of delirium.
DELIRIUM Disordered thinking Euphroia/ emotional liability Language impairment Inattention Reversal of sleep wake cycles Illusions and hallucinations Unaware/ disorientated Memory deficits
What are the 4 things a patient must show to be diagnosed with delirium?
- Change in cognition (memory deficit, disorientated or language disturbance)
- A disturbance in attention
- Evolves over a short time (hr-days) and is an acute change from baseline and fluctuates throughout the day
- Change is evident in the history ± physical exam ± lab findings
What might you see in hyperactive delirium?
Heightened arousal, agitation, irritable, hallucinations, inappropriate behaviour
What might you see in hypoactive delirium?
Lethargy, lack of interest, reduced motor activity, incoherent speech
What are some possible causes of delirium?
PINCHME
Pain
Infection (UTI, penumonia, Line infection, meningitis)
Nutritional (Thaimine or B12 deficiency)
Constipation
Hydration/Hypoxia (rep or cardio failure)
Metabolic (uraemia, electrolyte disturbances, liver failure)
Environment
Alcohol/drug withdrawal
Polypharmacy
Vascular (stroke, MI)
What is motor neurone disease?
Progressive degeneration of the motor nueurone cranial nuclei in the motor cortex, anterior horn of the spinal cord and cranial nerve nuclei of the brainstem
Mixed UMN and LMN signs
Weak, clumsy, dysarthria, dysphagia
What are the most common types of MND?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - UMN + LMN
Progressive bulbar palsy - dysarthria and dysphagia - UMN
Progressive muscular atrophy - LMN signs
What is Parkinsons disease?
A neurodegenerative disease of the basal ganglia in which there is loss of the dopaminergic neurones in the substantia Niagra
Explain how parkinsons may arise
Usually symptoms start to bee seen when ~50% of the neurones are destroyed.
The substantia nigra in the midbrain and the corpus striatum in the Basal ganglia communicate via direct and indirect circuits in the niagrostriatal paythway.
Loss of dopaminergic neurones causes increased inhibitory effect on the thalamus which reduced the excitatroy input to the motor cortex
What are some indications of advanced parkinsons disease?
Falls, fluctuations in motor activity, sleep disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders
What are some neuropsychiatric symptoms of parkinsons?
Dementia, anxiety, depression
What are some autonomic nervous system symptoms of parkinsons?
Erectile dysfunction, constipation, urinary urgency, excessive sweating/ salivation, postural hypotension
What drugs might you use in early parkinsons disease?
Dopamine agonists. They bind to the dopamine receptors in the post-synaptic membrane.
Ropinirole, Bromocriptine, apomorphine, pramipexole
SE - hallucinations, compulsive behaviour, fainting
What are some side effects of Levodopa drugs for parkinsons?
Dyskinesia
Postural hypotension
Confusion, hallucinations
Define depression,
A mental state characterised by persistent low mood, lack of interest and enjoyment in everyday activities. A neurovegitative disturbance and reduced energy, causing varying levels of social and occupational dysfunction
How would you diagnose a Major depressive disorder.
The presence of at least 5 depressive symptoms. Mild-severe.
How would you diagnose sub threshold (minor) depression?
The presence of at least 2-4 symptoms for more than 2 weeks. At leats one of persistent low mood or anhedonia
What is a Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)?
Characterised by at least 2 years of 3-4 dysthymic symptoms on more days than not