Questions Flashcards
A clinical manifestation caused by damage to the lower pons includes an abnormal____
Extension response of the upper and lower extremities.
Which person is at the greatest risk for developing delirium?
An individual on the second day after hip replacement
A sudden, explosive, disorderly discharge of cerebral neurons is?
A seizure
A complex partial seizure is described as:
Impairment of both consciousness and the ability to react to exogenous stimuli.
Status epilepticus is considered a medical emergency because of the:
Development of cerebral hypoxia.
The most critical aspect in correctly diagnosing a seizure disorder and establishing its cause is:
Health history
What type of seizure starts in the fingers and progressively spreads up the arm and extends to the leg?
Focal (partial) Jacksonian seizure
What area of the brain mediates the executive attention functions?
Prefrontal
What term describes the loss of comprehension or production of language?
Aphasia
With receptive dysphasia (fluent), the individual is able to:
Comprehend speech, but not verbally respond.
What is the normal intracranial pressure (in mm Hg)?
Intracranial pressure is normally 5 to 15 mm Hg or 60 to 180 cm water (H2O)
Cerebral edema is an increase in the fluid content of the brain’s
Tissue
What type of cerebral edema occurs when permeability of the capillary endothelium increases after injury to the vascular structure?
Ischemic
A communicating hydrocephalus is caused by an impairment of the:
Absorption of the CSF
Which edema is most often observed with noncommunicating hydrocephalus?
Interstitial
Which dyskinesia involves involuntary movements of the face, trunk, and extremities?
Tardive
Antipsychotic drugs cause tardive dyskinesia by mimicking the effects of increased_____
Dopamine
The existence of regular, deep, and rapid respirations after a severe closed head injury is indicative of neurologic injury to the
Lower midbrain
What type of posturing exists when a person with a severe closed head injury has all four extremities in rigid extension with the forearms in hyper pronation and the legs in plantar extension?
Decerebrate
Since his cerebrovascular accident, a man has been denying his left hemiplegia. What term is used to describe this finding?
Anosognosia is ignorance or denial of the existence of disease.
After a cerebrovascular accident, a man is unable to either feel or identify a comb with his eyes closed. This is an example of
Tactile agnosia
Most dysphasias are associated with cerebrovascular accidents involving which artery?
Middle cerebral
Tactile agnosia is related to injury of which area of the brain?
Parietal
Neurofibrillary tangles characterize which neurologic disorder?
Alzheimer’s disease
The body compensates for a rise in intracranial pressure by first displacing the___
CSF
Stage 1 intracranial hypertension is caused by the______
Displacement of cerebrospinal fluid, followed by compression of the cerebral venous system.
Dilated and sluggish pupils, widening pulse pressure, and bradycardia are clinical findings evident of which stage of intracranial hypertension?
3
Dilation of the ipsilateral pupil, following uncal herniation, is the result of pressure on which cranial nerve (CN)?
Oculomotor (CN III)
Which characteristic is the most critical index of nervous system dysfunction?
Level of consciousness
Diagnostic criteria for a persistent vegetative state include:
Return of autonomic functions such as gastrointestinal function
Uncal herniation occurs when:
The hippocampal gyrus shifts from the middle fossa through the tentorial notch into the posterior fossa
Which assessment finding marks the end of spinal shock?
Gradual return of spinal reflexes
Characteristics of primary motor neuron atrophy include____
Fasciculations and muscle cramps
The weakness resulting from the segmental paresis and paralysis characteristic of anterior horn cell injury is difficult to recognize because:
Two or more nerve roots supply each muscle.
Parkinson disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain’s_____
Basal ganglia
Clinical manifestations of Parkinson disease are caused by a deficit in which of the brain’s neurotransmitters?
Dopamine
Tremors at rest, rigidity, akinesia, and postural abnormalities are a result of the atrophy of neurons in the brain’s_____
Substantia nigra that produces dopamine.
