| A | B |
|---|
| Alzheimer's disease | a chronic, progressive, degenerative disease of the brain |
| aura | a sensation of light or warmth or other perception that may be a warning of an attack of a migraine or an epileptic seizure |
| autonomic nervous system | the nervous system, which is part of the peripheral nervous system, that governs involuntary functions of cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and glands |
| blood-brain barrier | an anatomic physiologic barrier between blood capillaries and brain tissue, |
| central nervous system | the spinal cord and brain |
| cerebrospinal fluid | fluid that circulates within the subarachnoid space that surrounds the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord that provides cushioning for the brain and spinal cord, allows fluid shifts from the cranial cavity to the spinal cavity and carries nutrients |
| cluster headache | repeated headaches that can occur for weeks to months at a time, followed by periods of remission: characterized by attacks of intense unilateral pain that occurs most often over the eye and forehead |
| cranial nerves | the 12 paired nerves composed of cell bodies with fibers that exit from the cranial cavity |
| Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease | a rare and fatal encephalopathy thought to be caused by a prion protein; human variant of mad cow disease |
| delirium | a state of temporary but acute mental confusion; common in older adults who have a short-term illness such as lung or heart disease, infections, poor nutrition, medication interactions, and metabolic or hormone disorders |
| dementia | a syndrome caused by disease of the brain, usually of a chronic or progressive nature, in which there are chronic personality disintegration. confusion, memory impairment, and deterioration of intellectual capacity and function; commonly accompanied by deterioration in emotional control, social behavior, and motivation |
| epilepsy | a condition in which a person has spontaneously recurring seizures caused by a chronic underlying condition; characterized by recurrent episodes of convulsive seizures, sensory disturbances, abnormal behavior, and loss of consciousness; an uncontrolled electrical discharge from the nerve cells of the cerebral cortex is common to all types of epilepsy |
| familial Alzheimer's disease | Alzheimer's disease in which a clear pattern of inheritance within a family is established |
| fronto-temporal dementia | dementia of the temporal and/or frontal lobes |
| generalized seizures | seizures characterized by bilateral synchronous epileptic discharge in the brain with loss of consciousness for a few seconds to several minutes |
| headache | pain in the head from any cause |
| Huntington's disease (HD) | a genetically transmitted, autosomal dominant disorder that affects both men and women of all races characterized by chronic, devastating loss of all neurologic function resulting in dementia |
| Lewy body disease | a condition characterized by the presence of Lewy bodies (intraneural cytoplasmic inclusions) in the brainstem and cortex: clinically presents with similarities to both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease |
| lower motor neuron | the neuron that is the final common pathway through which descending motor tracts influence skeletal muscle, the effector organ for movement |
| meninges | three layers of protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord; three layers include the dura mater layer, the arachnoid, and pia mater layers |
| migraine headache | recurring headache characterized by unilateral or bilateral throbbing pain, a triggering event or factor, strong family history, and manifestations associated with neurologic and autonomic nervous system dysfunction; can occur with and without an aura |
| mild cognitive impairment | a state of cognition and functional between normal aging and early Allzheimer's disease. |
| multiple sclerosis (MS) | a chronic, progressive. degenerative disorder of the central nervous system characterized by disseminated clemyeti nation of nerve fibers of the brain and spinal cord |
| myasthenia gravis (MG) | an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction characterized by the fluctuating weakness of certain skeletal muscle groups |
| myasthenic crisis | an acute exacerbation of myasthenia gravis triggered by infection, surgery, emotional distress, or overdose or inadequate medication |
| neurofibrillary tangles | tangled bundles of fibers seen in the cytoplasm of abnormal neurons in those areas of the brain (hippocampus, cerebral cortex) most affected by Alzheimer's disease |
| neuroglia | cells in the central nervous system that provide support, nourishment, and protection to neurons; they perform the less specialized function of the nerve network |
| neuron | the primary functional unit of the nervous system |
| neurotransmitter | a chemical involved in the transmission of an impulse across the synaptic cleft |
| normal pressure hydrocephalus | an uncommon disorder characterized by an obstruction in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, which causes a buildup of this fluid in the brain |
| Parkinson's disease | a disease of the basal ganglia characterized by a slowing down in the initiation and execution of movement (bradykinesia), increased muscle tone (rigidity), tremor at rest, and impaired postural reflexes |
| partial seizures | seizures that begin in a specific region of the cortex and may be confined to one side of the brain and remain partial or focal in nature, or they may spread to involve the entire brain |
| peripheral nervous system | consists of the cranial and spinal nerves and the peripheral components of the autonomic nervous system (ANS); the system consists of 12 pairs of cranial nerves, 31 pairs of spinal nerves, and their various branches in the body organs. |
| Pick's disease | a rare brain disorder characterized by disturbances in behavior, sleep, personality, and eventually memory |
| reflex | an involuntary response to a stimulus |
| restless legs syndrome | unpleasant sensory (paresthesias) and motor abnormalities of one or both legs; characterized by an irritating sensation of uneasiness, tiredness, and itching deep within the muscles of the leg, especially the lower part of the limb, accompanied by twitching or pain |
| seizure | a paroxysmal, uncontrolled electrical discharge of neurons in the brain that interrupts normal function leading to a sudden, violent involuntary series of contractions of a group of muscles |
| status epilepticus | a state of continuous seizure activity or a condition in which seizures recur in rapid succession without return to consciousness between seizures |
| sundowning | condition: the patient becomes more confused and agitated in the late afternoon; behaviors exhibited: agitation, aggressiveness, wandering, resistance to redirection, and increased verbal activity such as yelling; thought to be related to circadian rhythm interruption |
| synapse | the structural and functional junction between two neurons, across which nerve impulses are transmitted through the action of a neurotransmitter, such as acetylcholine or norepinephrine |
| tension-type headache | headache that is characterized by a bilateral feeling of pressure around the head |
| tonic-clonic seizure | a seizure characterized by loss of consciousness and falling to the ground if the patient is upright, followed by stiffening of the body (tonic phase) for 10 to 20 seconds and subsequent jerking of the extremities (clock phase) for another 30 to 40 seconds |
| upper motor neuron | the neuron that originates in the cerebral cortex and projects downward to the spinal cord; these neurons influence skeletal muscle movement |
| vascular dementia | the loss of cognitive function resulting from ischemic, ischemic-hypoxic, or hemorrhagic brain lesions caused by cardiovascular disease |
