Stroke Syndromes Flashcards
A focal neurologic deficit of vascular origin. Caused by an abrupt incidence of vascular insufficiency or bleeding into, or immediately adjacent to the brain
Stroke (Also called a cerebrovascular accident)
There is higher incidence and prevalence of stroke in the
Southeastern US
Is heteromodal (combined inputs from many modalities) and makes up the majority of the human cortex
Association cortex
Is the frontal cortex anterior to the motor, premotor, and limbic areas
Prefrontal cortex
What are the three main functions of the frontal association cortex?
Restraint, Initiative, and Order
The ability to inhibit inappropriate behaviors
Restraint
The motivation to pursue positive/productive activities
Initiative
The capacity to correctly perform sequencing tasks and cognitive operations
Order
Cause large changes in affect, mood, and personality
Frontal Lobe Lesions
Characterized by loss of restraint, inappropriate social behavior, loss of ambition and judgement and inability to plan for the future
Frontal Lobe Lesions
Functions in the coordination of complex aspects of human cognition and behavior. These require the integration of thought with emotion
Prefrontal cortex
Characterized by abulia, laughing at serious matters, and limited insight
Prefrontal cortex lesions
Responsible for making decisions about the future, planning, and maintaining focus
-Responsible for working memory
Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex
Failure on Delayed Response Task This requires working memory and planning to retrieve the food after a period of time
Dorsolateral prefrontal lesions causing working memory deficits
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex is important for planning a
Goal directed movement
Responsible for behavioral inhibition and empathy
Ventromedial/Orbitofrontal Prefrontal Cortex
Lesions cause inappropriate behaviors and patients do not respond to images of sad, happy, or angry faces
Lesions to Ventromedial/Orbitofrontal Prefrontal Cortex
An Example of an Orbitofrontal/Ventromedial Lesion is
-Most common type
Frontotemporal lobe dementia
Damage to the right parietal association cortex causes
Contralateral hemineglect syndrome
Ignorance of visual, somatosensory, or auditory stimuli, despite intact primary sensation.
-Drawing, reading and writing can reveal
Sensory neglect
Motor inattention to one side of the body, despite normal reflexes and strength: eyes deviated to side of lesion
Motor Neglect
Patients perceive their body as upright even when it is tilted to the side. Patients will also tend to gaze towards the lesion (away from the neglected side)
Motor Neglect
Lack of awareness of neglect. Lack of personal hygiene and grooming. Disownershipof affected part
Anosognosia
The process of selectively focusing on one aspect of the environment
Attention
The right parietal association cortex functions in
Attention
A right hemisphere lesion causes severe
Left neglect
A left hemisphere lesion causes minimal
Right neglect
Attentional processes are largely in the
Right Hemisphere
We have better attention mechanisms to the
Left
Extinction tests can uncover
Neglect
Patients with neglect will have normal responses to individual stimuli/commands, but demonstrate “extinction” on the
Neglected side
Each side tested alone patient will see/feel
Sensory extinction
Move each arm separately, and then both together to look for neglected arm or Allokinesia
Motor extinction
Moving the wrong arm to the command
Motor extinction
Stroke deficits arise from the
Subcortical structures and pathways