Suspecting Organicity

Question 1

What is ‘Brain Syndrome’

Answer 1

Global brain dysfunction

Question 2

What are the four core deficits which appear as symptoms of organic brain syndrome?

Answer 2

Disorientation
Recent memory impairment
Diminished reasoning
Sensory indiscrimination

Question 3

What does disorientation involve?

Answer 3

Time - inability to identify month, year, general time of the day
Place - inability to identify present location
Person - inability to recognise familiar persons

Question 4

What does recent memory impairment involve?

Answer 4

Failure to recall three items after five minutes on two occasions

Question 5

What does ‘diminished reasoning’ involve?

Answer 5

Inability to solve simple problems (e.g. - 22-7; what would you do if you locked your keys in the car)

Question 6

Sensory indiscrimination

Answer 6

presence of illusions/hallucinations

Question 7

What types of tests could you give to check for brain syndrome?

Answer 7

Write-a-sentence test
Draw a clock test
Copy a 3D figure test

Question 8

What are the alerting cues for organicity?

Answer 8

no Hx of symptoms
no readily identifiable cause
age 55+
coexistence of chronic disease
Drug/alcohol use (incl. medications)

Question 9

What are some presumptive clues of organicity? (i.e. - if present they must be considered INDICATIVE of organicity)

Answer 9

Head injury
Change in headache pattern
Visual Disturbance
Speech Deficit
Abnormal body movements
Sustained deviations in vital signs
Change in consciousness