| A | B |
|---|
| Combining Form | Meaning |
| cerebell/o | cerebellum |
| cerebr/o | cerebrum |
| dur/o | dura mater |
| encephal/o | brain |
| gli/o | glial cells |
| lept/o | this, slender |
| mening/o, meningi/o | membranes, meninges |
| my/o | muscle |
| myel/o | spinal cord (means bone marrow in other contexts) |
| neur/o | nerve |
| pont/o | pons |
| radicul/o | nerve root (of spinal nerves) |
| thalam/o | thalamus |
| thec/o | sheath (refers to the meninges) |
| vag/o | vagus nerve (10th cranial nerve) |
| poli/o | gray matter |
| alges/o, -algesia | excessive sensitivity to pain |
| caus/o | burning |
| comat/o | deep sleep (coma) |
| esthesi/o, -esthesia | feeling, nervous sensation |
| lex/o | word, phrase |
| syncop/o | to cut off, cut short |
| tax/o | order, coordination |
| -kines/o, -kinesi/o, -kinesia, -kinesis, -kinetic | movement |
| -lepsy | seizure |
| -paresis | weakness |
| -phasia | speech |
| -plegia | palsy; paralysis (loss or impairment of the ability to move parts of the body) |
| -praxia | action |
| -sthenia | strength |
| -algia | pain |
| -algesia | sensitivity to pain |
| -blast | embryonic, immature cell |
| -cele | hernia |
| -esthesia | nervous sensation |
| -gram | record |
| -graphy | process of recording |
| -ine | a substance |
| -itis | inflammation |
| -oma | tumor, mass, fluid collection |
| -ose | full of, pertaining to, sugar |
| -paresis | weakness |
| -pathy | disease; emotion |
| -phagia | condition of eating; swallowing |
| -ptosis | falling, drooping, prolapse |
| -sclerosis | hardening |
| -sthenia | strength |
| -tomy | process of cutting |
| -trophy | nourishment, development (condition of) |
| AD | Alzehimer disease |
| ALS | amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Lou Gehrig's disease |
| AVM | arteriovenous malformation - congenital tangle of arteries & veins in the cerebrum |
| CNS | central nervous system |
| CSF | cerebrospinal fluid |
| CT | computed tomography |
| CVA | cerebrovascular accident (stroke) |
| EEG | electroencephalography |
| ICP | intracranial pressure (normal pressure is 5 to 15 mm Hg) |
| LP | lumbar puncture (spinal tap) |
| MAC | monitored anesthestic care |
| MG | myasthenia gravis |
| MRA | magnetic resonance angiography |
| MRI | magnetic resonance imaging |
| MS | multiple sclerosis |
| PCA | patient-controlled analgesia (pain relief) |
| PET | positron emission tomography |
| PNS | peripheral nervous system |
| Sz | seizure |
| TBI | traumatic brain injury |
| TENS | transcutaneous electical nerve stimulation--technique using a battery-powered device to relieve acute & chronic pain |
| TIA | transient ischemic attack (mini-strokes) |
| TLE | temporal lobe epilepsy |
| tPA | tissue plasminogen activator; a clost-dissolving drug used as therapy for a stroke |
