Red Flags for Motor Dysfunction Flashcards

1
Q

What are red flags for cerebellar dysfunction?

A
  • Ataxic movements impeding a patient’s ability to bring a cup or spoon to the mouth without spilling
  • Over- or undershooting when reaching for items in a closet
  • Wide-based staggering gait during functional activities
  • Noted nystagmus with functional complaints of dizziness, diplopia, and difficulty reading and writing
  • Inability or difficulty applying makeup secondary to intension tremors
  • Difficulty or inability to clap hands
  • Hypertonia or hypotonia
  • Broken or slurred speech
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are red flags for basal ganglia dysfunction?

A
  • Pill rolling or tremor-like movement at rest
  • Difficulty bringing eating utensils to the mouth or both hands to the face for grooming activities, secondary to UE rigidity
  • Inability to initiate voluntary movement
  • Increased time noted to perform motor components of self-care or mobility due to bradykinesia
  • Jerky movement inhibiting fine and gross motor tasks
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are red flags for brainstem dysfunction?

A
  • Complaints of vertigo
  • Loss of balance during seated and standing ADL tasks
  • Diplopia or disconjugate gaze
  • Flaccidity of an extremity
  • Spasticity of an extremity
  • Inability to perform bed mobility secondary to extensor tonal patterns
  • Difficulty performing anterior weight shifts secondary to extensor tone dominance
  • Hypertonicity with yawning and coughing
  • Associated reactions
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What are red flags for the primary motor area?

A
  • Inability to voluntarily move the involved extremity

- Spasticity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What are red flags for motor tract dysfunction?

A
  • Inability to initiate and carry out a desired movement
  • Decreased visual scanning, binocular vision, and diplopia
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Dysarthric speech
  • Inability to coordinate head and neck movements during reaching, scanning, and ADL performance
  • Difficulty ambulating on uneven terrain secondary to loss of balance
  • Inability or difficulty transitioning from bending to retrieve low items to returning to a normal midline trunk position in sitting
  • Inability to maintain head in a neutral position or hold head up against gravity
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are red flags for frontal lobe dysfunction?

A
  • Inability to correctly select or use eating utensils secondary to apraxia
  • Inability to perform grooming and hygiene tasks secondary to incorrect utensil use (or apraxia)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the pathway of neural messages from the cortex to muscles?

A

Primary motor cortex > Internal capsule > Thalamus > Brainstem > Spinal cord > Ventral horn of spinal cord > Ventral rootlets > Ventral root > Skeletal muscle

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly