Sem 2 L1- Brain Damage And Neurodegeneration Flashcards
What is Brain Damage caused by?
Blood restriction
What is Brain Injury caused by?
What is a congenital brain injury?
Occurs before/ around birth, pre-natal or birth related trauma
Caused by genetic factors (affect neurodevelopment)
Eg Zika Virus
What is an acquired brain injury?
Silly things we do to ourselves as a species
What are the two types of brain injuries?
Traumatic or non-traumatic
What is a Traumatic brain injury?
Aka Intracranial Injury, Traumatic brain injuries include something bad happening suddenly
What is a Non-traumatic brain injury?
Include a range of conditions such as
(SITH/A)
Strokes
Infections
Tumours
Hypoxia/Anoxia
What are the two main causes of strokes?
Cerebral Hemorrhage and Cerebral Ischaemia
What is a similarity between a Cerebral Haemorrhage and Cerebral Ischaemia?
Blood supply is disrupted for both cerebral had,or have and cerebral Ischaemia
What is a cerebral haemorrhage?
A cause of a stroke
Blood leaks out of blood vessels into tissue and come into contact w neurons (which it shouldn’t do) the neurons then die because of this or become damaged
Blood is toxic to neural tissue
What does a cerebral haemorrhage often result from?
An aneurism - blood vessel rupture due to floodings
How can you treat an aneurism?
By clipping and feeding the blood vessel ONLY if the aneurism is spotted before the rupture
Prevention of bursting: maintain low blood pressure, avoid strenuous activity
What is a cerebral Ischaemia?
A blockage in the blood vessels eg a blood clot, which can lead to a lack of oxygen or glucose going into the brain.
This will then prevent circulation in the brain and will lead to excitotoxcitiy and neural cell death
Blockages can be caused by specific “plugs” (thrombus or emboli) or cardiovascular disease (atherosclerosis)
What is a goal in treating cerebral Ischaemia/stroke?
Rescue the penumbra by reopening the blocked blood vessel
What is an Ischaemia Penumbra?
Zone of stunned but salvageable tissue
What does traumatic brain injury involve?
Open or closed head injury
What is the area of zone for traumatic brain injury?
Can be specific in focus or widespread, and can affect brain tissue directly or indirectly by damaging the blood supply (circulatory) system
(Can involve closed or open head injury)
What is closed head injury?
No penetration of the skull
Normal forces applied to the skull present no problem in part due to this ‘cushion’ of cerebrospinal fluid that the brain floats in
Damage can be diffused and widespread
What is Dementia Pugilistica?
Aka Punch Drunk Syndrome
Repeated, powerful blows to the head are not conducive to long term brain health
-Cumulative structural damage occurs resulting in dementia symptoms
Some evidence that it leads to increased likelihood of neurodegenerative diseases such as PD and AD
What is open head injury?
When the skull doesn’t remain intact
-Objects penetrating the skull and entering the brain eg Phineas Gage
Also damage to the skull such that bone fragments damage brain tissue
Damage can be localised, but risk of other complications (bleeding, infection, swelling) that can lead to wider damage
What does Brain Disease include?
Neurodegenerative disease and psychiatric/mental disorders
What are some types of neurodegenerative disorders?
Cerebral vascular diseases
Cancer
Epilepsy
Infections
Movement disorders
Psychiatric / mental disorders such as depression, SZ, bipolar disorder
What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
Diffuse changes in brain structure and volume associated w widespread neuronal loss
Predominantly cognitive symptoms in early stages
Associated with loss of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine
Symptomatic treatment available, but no care
What is Parkinsons’s Disease?
Mainly attributable to loss of a single type of neuron in a specific brain region
Predominantly, but not entirely motor (movement related) symptoms
Associated with loss of the neurotransmitter dopamine
Symptomatic treatment available, but no cure
Who does Parkinson’s disease affect?
0.5% of the population (1.2% of the elderly population), 2.5x more common in men
Parkinson’s Disease is an idiopathic disease - each case has its own origins (no single cause)
It is a neurodegenerative disease, no cure, some treatment options available that reduce the symptoms
