Terminology Flashcards
Delirium definition
Confusion and altered consciousness
Define dementia
Progressive loss of long-term memory and other cognitive functions. No altered consciousness!
Dizziness vs vertigo (4each)
Dizzy: usually upright posture associated with CVS pathology. May go dark in front of eyes. Associated with palpitation, pallor, sweating
Vertigo: hallucination of movement. May be positional. Associated with nystagmus. Pathology in ear, brainstem or cerebellum
Define stroke
Acute onset (minutes to hours) focal neurological deficit of the central nervous system from vascular origin Duration more than 24h.
Define TIA
Acute onset of focal neurological deficit followed by speedy recovery within 5-20 mins and mostly within 2 hours (by definition may take up to 24h)
Stereotypically repeated attacks
Define paraparesis
Weak lower limbs
Define - plegia
Power 0/5
Define agraphia
Inability to write
What is semantic fluency
Come up with words from a given semantic category smoothly eg “name as many animals in 1 min”
What is phonemic fluency
Generation of words from initial letters eg name words beginning with “F” in 1 min
Define prosody
Rhythm and intonation of speech to provide important information beyond a sentence’s literal meaning eg sarcasm, question… (Non dominant hemisphere)
Define dysarthria
Difficulty speaking due to weakness in muscles of speech, causing slowed or slurred speech - disorder of articulation
flaccid dysarthria characteristics and cause
Nasal/slurred speech, imprecise consonant productions, breathiness of voice
Cause = Myasthenia Gravis
Spastic dysarthria characteristic and cause
Sound like patient is squeezing out words from pursed mouth. Imprecise consonants, harsh voice quality or strained, strangled
Cause = stroke
Ataxic dysarthria characteristics and cause
Speech uncoordinated; range, timing, direction inaccurate; rate slow; may be explosive
Cerebellar lesions eg MS
Hypokinetic dysarthria characteristic and cause
Speech monotonous, slow, rate may vary, may have rigidity
Cause = Parkinson’s
Hyperkinetic dysarthria characteristics and cause
Involuntary disruptions in sounds and or movements, echolalia, coprolalia
Cause = chorea eg huntington disease
Define echolalia
Meaningless repetition of another person’s spoken words
Define coprolalia
Obscene language without provocation or reason
Define apraxia
Loss of ability to execute or carry out skilled movements
Define agnosia
Loss ability to identify objects, people, sounds…
What is sundowning?
State of confusion occurring late afternoon and night. ESP in Alzheimer’s and dementia
Define anisocoria
Unequal pupil sizes due to efferent pathway disturbances.
