Neuromuscular: Foundational Definitions Flashcards
Agnosia
Inability to recognize familiar objects with one form of sensation (i.e visual)
Akinesia
Inability to initiate movement
Associated typically with Parkinson’s
Aphasia
Disturbance of language that results in errors of word choice, comprehension or syntax
Aphasia: Expressive, non-fluent, motor, or Broca’s
Severe difficulty with verbal expression
Impairment to object naming and writing abilities
Often associated with right hemiplegia
Aphasia: Global
Most severe form of aphasia
Characterized by reduced speech and comprehension
Characterized by reading and writing impairment
Associated with blockage to the main stem of the MCA
Aphasia: Receptive, fluent, or Wernicke’s
Severe disturbance in auditory comprehension
Reading, writing and word recognition are impaired
Aphasia: Conduction or associative
Patient struggle to repeat phrases and find words
Characterized by damage to the arcuate fasciculus (fibers that connect Broca’s and Wernicke’s area)
Apraxia
Inability to perform movements previously learned even though there is no loss of strength, coordination, sensation, or comprehension.
Apraxia: Ideational
Person no longer gets the idea of how to perform a routine task like hand washing
Apraxia: Ideomotor
Person can not due a task on demand but can do it spontaneously.
Astereognosis
Inability to recognize objects by touch alone
Asynergia
Inability to move muscles together in a coordinated manner
Ataxia
Uncoordinated movement, especially gait
Athetosis
Slow, involuntary, worm like, twisting motions, Usually seen in forms of cerberal palsy.
Causalgia
Burning sensations, which are painful.
Associated with CRPS type I.
Chorea
Rapid, involuntary, jerky movements.
Associated with Huntington’s
Clonus
A rhythmic involuntary oscillation of a muscle and joint in response to sudden stretch.
Decerebrate Rigidity
Involuntary contraction of the extensor muscles of the upper and lower extremity.
Results from injury in the brainstem above the vestibular nucleus and below the red nucleus
Decorticate Rigidity
Contraction of the flexor muscles of the upper extremity with contraction of the extensor muscles of the lower
Results from damage to the motor tracts above the red nucleus.
Delirium
Temporary confusion and loss of mental function
Results from illness, drug toxicity, or lack of oxygen
Reversible
Dementia
Loss of memory due to degeneration of the CNS in the brain.
Slow progressive and non reversible.
Disdiadochokinesia
Impaired ability to perform rapid alternating movements
Often associated with cerebellar disorders
Dysmetria
Inability to judge distances
Often associated with cerebellar dysfunction
Electromyography
Used to assess alpha motor neuron integrity
Glove and Stocking Anesthesia
Distal nerves degenerate resulting in anesthesia of the distal extremities in a glove or stocking pattern
Often associated with generalized poly neuropathies
Herpes Zoster
Painful inflammation of the posterior root ganglion
Horner’s Syndrome
Dropping of the eyelid
Constriction of the pupil
Lack of sweating of the ipsilateral face
Occurs secondary to damage of the sympathetic tract (cervical or brainstem)
Hypermetria
Patients moving past a particular point (overshoot)
Associated with cerebellar dysfunction
Nerve Conduction Studies
Determines the speed and amplitude of an action potential along a nerve or muscle fiber.
If the nerve is compressed actions potential will be diminished
Helps to determine if damage has taken place to the myelin or axons of the peripheral nerve.
Nystagmus
Involuntary movement in a horizontal, vertical, or rotational direction
Associated with vestibular, visual, and cerebellar didsorders
Somatagnosia
A lack of awareness of the relationship of one’s own body parts or the body parts of others
Visual Acuity
Sharpness of vision that decreases
Visual Field Deficits
Different types depending on lesion location.
Homonymous Hemianopsia
A deficit to either the right or left halves of the visual field caused by damage to the contralateral optic tract.
Bitemporal Hemianopsia
A deficit of the temporal or peripheral visual fields caused by injury at the optic chiasm
Also known as tunnel vision.
Monocular Blindness
Result of damage to the optic nerve
