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nerv system term
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ADHD | Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; disorder affecting children and adults characterized by impulsiveness, overactivity and the inability to remain focused on a task. |
| Affective Disorder | Psychological disorder in which the major characteristic is an abnormal mood, usually mania or depression. |
| Afferent Nerves | Also known as sensory nerves; conduct impulses toward the CNS |
| agnosia | Inability to comprehend auditory, visual, spatial, olfactory or other sensations even though the sensory sphere is intact. |
| Alzheimer's disease | Progressive neurological disorder of unknown etiology, characterized by memory loss, impaired judgement, impaired orientation. |
| anaesthesia | without feeling; loss of sensation |
| analgesics | agents that relieve pain by inhibiting the passage of pain impulses. |
| anesthetics | produce partial or complete loss of sensation, with or without loss of consciousness |
| angiography | radiography of the blood vessels after introduction of a contrast medium |
| anorexia nervosa | eating disorder characterized by a refusal to maintain adequate weight for age and height and an all-consuming desire to remain thin. |
| ANS | one of the two parts of the peripheral nervous system which conveys impulses to glands, smooth muscles, and cardiac muscles (involuntary functions) |
| anticonvulsants | prevent uncontrolled neuron activity associated with seizures by altering electrical transmission along neurons or altering the chemical composition of neurotransmitters; aka anti-epileptics |
| antidepressants | treat multiple symptoms of depression by increasing levels of specific neurotransmitters |
| antiparkinsonian agents | control tremors and muscle rigidity associated with Parkinson disease by increasing dopamine in the brain. |
| antipsychotics | treat psychosis, paranoia and schizophrenia by altering chemicals in the brain, including the limbic system which controls emotions |
| anxiety | psychological "worry" disorder characgterized by excessive pondering or thinking "what if..." |
| aphasia | inability to speak |
| arachnoid membrane | middle layer convering the brain, between the dura mater and the pia mater |
| asthenia | weakness, debility or loss of strength |
| astrocytes | star-shaped neuroglia, which forms the blood-brain barrier, allowing only small molecules to be transferred from the blood to the brain. |
| ataxia | lack of muscle coordination in the execution to voluntary movement |
| aura | premonitory awareness of an approaching physical or mental disorder; peculiar sensation that precedes seizures |
| autism | developmental disorder characterized by extreme withdrawal and an abnormal absorption in fantasy, usually accompanied by an inability to communicate even on a basic level |
| axon | a long, single projection that transmits impulses from the cell body |
| Bell's Palsy | facial paralysis due to 7th cranial nerve disorder |
| bipolar disorder | mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, emotion, energy and ability to fuction; also called manic-depressive illness |
| blood-brain barrier | protective mechanism that blocks specific substances found in the bloodstream from entering delicate brain tissue |
| brain stem | major section of the brain that serves as a pathway for impulse conduction between the brain and spinal cord |
| bulimia nervosa | eating disorder characterized by binging and purging |
| catatonic | stuporous or unresponsiveness; inability to move or talk |
| CNS | network or nervous tissue found in the brain and spinal cord |
| cerebellum | second largest part of the brain; occupies the back of the brain; refines the movement when the cerebrum initiates muscular movement; aids in maintaining equilibrium |
| cerebrum | largest and uppermost portion of the brain whose major functions include sensory perception and interpretation, muscular movement, and emotional aspects of behaviour and memory |
| cisternal pucture | a spinal puncture at the base of the brain to extract spinal fluid or inject medication |
| closed head trauma | injury to the head in which the dura mater remains intact and brain tissue is not exposed. |
| CNS | includes the brain and spinal cord |
| coma | abnormal, deep unconsciousness with absence of voluntary responses to stimuli |
| CT | imaging technique achieved by rotating a x-ray emitter around the are to be scanned and meansuring the intensity of transmitted rays from different angles |
| concussion | injury to the brain, occasionally with transient loss of consciousness as a result of injury or trauma to the head |
| convulsion | any sudden and violent contraction of one or more muscles |
| CP | Cerebral Palsy - a disease involving dysfunction of the cerebrum which is involved with sensory perception, muscular movement, and emotional aspects of memory and behavior |
| craniotomy | incision into the skull |
| cryosurgery | technique that exposes abnormal tissue to extreme cold to destroy it |
| CSF analysis | series of chemical, microscopic and microbial tists used to diagnose disorders of the CNS, including viral and bacterial infections, tumors and hemorrhage |
| dementia | broad term that refers to cognitive deficit, including memory impairment |
| dendrites | branching cytoplasmic projections that receive impulses and transmit them to the cell body |
| depression | mood disorder associated with sadness, despair, discouragement, and commonly feeling of low self-esteem, guilt and withdrawl |
| dura mater | outermost membrane covering the brain and spinal cord |
| dyslexia | inability to learn and process written language despite adequate intelligence, sensory ability, and exposure |
| dysrhythmia | abnormal rhythm, such as electrical disturbances in the brain. Poor development |
| efferent nerves | aka: motor nerves; conduct impulses away from the CNS |
| electroencephalography | EEG, recording of electrical activity in the brain, whose cells emit distinct patterns or rhythmic electrical impulses. |
| electromyography | EMG; recording of electrical signals that occur in a muscle when it is at rest and druing contraction to assess nerve damage |
| encephalitis | inflammation of the brain |
| epilepsy | a recurrent disorder of cerebrall functions characterized by seizures/convulsions |
| ECT | electroconvulsive therapy |
| ganglion | a collection of nerve bodies |
| ganglionectomy | excision of ganglion |
| grand mal seizure | serious form of epileptic seizure, characterized by sudden loss of consciousness and violent spasms |
| Guillain-Barre syndrome | autoimmune condition that causes acute inflammation of the peripheral nerves in which myelin sheaths on the axons are destroyed, resulting in decreased nerve impulses, loss of reflex response and sudden muscle weakness |
| Herpes Zoster | Painful, acute infectious disease of the posterior root ganglia of only a few segments of the spinal or cranial nerves; also called shingles |
| Huntington Chorea | inherited disease of the CNS characterized by quick involuntary movements, speech disturbances and mental deterioration |
| hydrocephalus | accumulation of fluid in the ventricles of the brain, causing increased ICP, thinning of brain tissue and separation of cranial bones |
| hyperkinesia | excessive movement |
| hypnotics | depress CNS functions, promote desation and sleep and relieve agitation, anxousness and restlessness |
| idiopathic | occurring without a known cause |
| lethargy | abnormal inactivity or lack of response to normal stimuli; also called sluggishness |
| local | act upon nerves or nerve tracts to affect a local area only |
| lumbar puncture | LP, needle puncture of the spinal cavity to extract spinal fluid for diagnostic purposes, introduce anesthetic agents into the spinal canal or remove fluid to allow other fluids to be injected; also called spinal puncture or spinal tap |
| mania | mood disorder characterized by mental and physical hyperactivity, disorganized behavior and excessively elevated mood. |
| meninges | three membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord: dura mater, arachnoid membrane, and pia mater |
| meningocele | congential hernia/protusion of meninges through an opening in the skull or spinal column |
| microcephaly | abnormally small head |
| mixed nerves | nerves composed of both sensory and motor nerves |
| motor nerve | nerve that conducts impulses away from the CNS |
| multiple sclerosis | a progressive, degenerative disease of the myelin sheath, striking young adults aged 20-40; signs and symptoms include tremors, muscle weakness, and slowness of movement |
| myelalgia | pain in the spinal cord/bone marrow |
| myelin | white fat-like sheath that covers many axons in the PNS and the CNS |
| myelography | diagnostic radiological examination of the spinal canal, nerve roots and spinal cord after injection of contrast medium into the spinal canal |
| myelopathy | any disease of the spinal cord |
| nerve | a large bundle of axons wrapped in connective tissue |
| nerve conduction velocity | NCV, test that measures the speed at which impulses travel through a nerve |
| nerve fiber | projection of a neuron, especially the axon that transmits impulses |
| neurilemma | additional sheath external to myelin that is formed by Schwann cells and found only on axons in the PNS |
| neurolysis | surgical freeing of a nerve from adhesion |
| neurosis | nonpsychotic mental illness that triggers feelings of distress and anxiety and impairs normal behavior |
| neuron | a nerve cell; the functional cell of the nervous system; is responsible for impulse conduction |
| neurotransmitters | chemical substances that facilitate the transmission of impulses across synapses |
| opiates | stupor or sleep-inducing (narcotic) drugs, containg opium |
| palsy | paralysis, usually partial and commonly characterized by weakness and shaking or uncontrolled tremor |
| panic attack | sudden, intense, overwhelming feeling of fear that comes without warning and is not attributable to any immediate danger |
| paralysis | loss of voluntary motion in one or more muscle groups with or without loss of sensation |
| paraplegia | paralysis of trunk and both legs |
| parasympathetic nervous system | part of the ANS. reverses effects of sympathetic system on the body (eg, slows heart rate) |
| paresthesia | sensations of numbness, prickling, tingling or heightened sensitivity |
| PET | positron emission tomography; scan using CT to record the positrons emitted from a radiopharmaceutical and produce a cross-sectional image of metabolic activity in body tissues to dermine the presence of disease |
| petit mal seizure | mild epileptic seizure (10-30 seconds); consisting of mementary change in level of consciousness |
| pia mater | innermost membrane covering the brain and spinal cord |
| PNS | peripheral nervous system - includes all nercous tissue of the body found outside the CNS |
| poliomyslitis | inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord caused by a virus, commonly resulting in spinal and muscle deformity and paralysis |
| psychosis | major emotional disorder in which contact with reality is lost to the point that the individual is incapable of meeting challenges of daily life |
| psychostimulants | reduce impulsice behavior by increasing the level of neurotransmitters |
| quadriplegia | paralysis of the trunk and all four extremities |
| reye syndrome | acute encephalopathy and fatty infiltration of the brain, liver and possibly the pancreas, heart, kidney, spleen and lymph nodes |
| sciatica | severe pain in the leg along the course of the sciatic nerve felt at the base of the spine, down the thigh and radiating down the leg due to compressed nerve |
| sensory nerve | a nerve that receives impulses from sense organs |
| SNS | somatic nercous system - one of the two parts of the PNS whcih conveys impulses for voluntary functions |
| spina bifida | defect in which the neural tube fails to close during embryogenesis |
| symapthetic nervous system | part of the ANS. when in use may cause symptoms such as an accelerated heart rate and increased blood pressure. |
| spinal cord | conveys sensory impulses to the brain from different parts of the body and also transmits motor impulses away fromthe brain to all muscles and organs |
| synapses | a small space found between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite of another |
| syncope | temporary loss or consciousness due to the sudden decline of blood flow to the brain; aka fainting |
| Tay-Sach's disease | genetic enzyme deficiency; characterized by progressive mental challenges, paralysis, blindness, inability to eat, and ultimately to death by age of 4 years |
| thalamotomy | partial destruction of the thalamus to treat intractable pain, involuntary movements or emotional disturbances |
| tics | involuntary, spasmodic muscular contractions, usually of the face and neck |
| tonic-clonic seizure | general type of seizure characterized by the loss of consciousness and stiffening of the body |
| tractotomy | transaction of a nerve tract in the brainstem or spinal cord |
| transient ischemic attack | TIA, temporary interference with blood supply to the brain lasting from a few minutes to a few hours |
| tranquilizers | medications used to reduce tension and anxiety without decreasing level of consciousness |
| trephination | technique that cuts a circular opening into the skull to reveal brain tissue and decrease intercranial pressure |
| ultrasonography | US, imagin procedure using high-frequency sound waves that display the reflected "echoes" on a monitor; aka ultrasound, sonography, echo, echogram |
| vagotomy | interruption of the function of the vagus nerve to relieve peptic ulcer |
| ventricles | chamber or cavity of an organ that receives or holds a fluid |
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MedixMOA
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