chapter 5 med term

brain

cerebr/o encephal/o

cerebellum

cerebell/o

head

cephal/o

head, skull

crani/o

meninges (membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord)

mening/o meningi/o

dura (tough outer membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord)

dur/o

nerve

neur/o

spinal cord, bone marrow

myel/o

feeling, sensation

esthesi/o

speech

phas/o

mind

phren/o, psych/o

know

gnosi/o

excessive desire

-mania

excessive fear or sensitivity

-phobia

slight or partial paralysis

-paresis

paralysis

-plegia

aphasia

a/phas/ia inability to speak

dementia

de/ment/ia loss/decline in mental function

dysphasia

difficulty speaking, dys/phas/ia

neurasthenia

nerve weakness, neur/asthenia

syncope

fainting; losing consciousness due to temporary loss of blood flow to brain from greek, for contraction or cut off

cephalalgia

head pain, cephal/algia

neuralgia

nerve pain, neur/algia

paralysis

complete loss of sensation and motor function from greek, for disable

paresis

partial paralysis characterized by varying degree of sensation and motor function from greek, for to let go

acrophobia

fear of heights acro/phobia

agoraphobia

fear of outdoor places greek for marketplace agora/phobia

hydrophobia

fear or water hydro/phobia

kleptomania

desire to steal klepto/mania

pyromania

desire to set fire pyro/mania

electroencephalography (EEG)

procedure used to examine the electrical activity of the brain electro/encephalo/graphy

lumbar puncture (LP)

inserting a needle into the lumbar region of the spine in order to collect spinal fluid, commonly called “spinal tap” lumb/ar puncture

cerebral angiography

procedure used to examine blood vessels of the brain cerebr/al angio/graphy

myelogram

image of the spinal cord, usually doe using x-ray myelo/gram

positron emission tomography (PET) scan

an imaging procedure that uses radiation (positrons) to produce cross sections of the brain e/mission tomo/graphy

encephalocele

hernia of the brain (normally through a defect in the skull) encephalo/cele

hematoma

a tumor-like mass made up blood hemat/oma

epidural hematoma

a hematoma located on top of the dura epi/dur/al hemat/oma

intracerebral hematoma

a hematoma located inside the brain intra/cerebr/al hemat/oma

subdural hematoma

a hematoma located beneath the dura sub/dur/al hemat/oma

meningocele

a hernia of the meninges meningo/cele

neuritis

nerve inflammation neur/itis

afferent nerve

a nerve that carries impulses toward the central nervous system af/ferent nerve

efferent nerve

a nerve that carries impulses away from the central nervous system ef/ferent nerve

psychiatrist

doctor who specializes in treatment of the mind psych/iatrist

psychiatry

branch of medicine that focuses on the treatment of the mind psych/iatry

psychologist

doctor who specializes in the study of the mind psycho/logist

psychology

branch of medicine that focuses on the study of the mind psycho/logy

psychosomatic

pertaining to the relationship between the body and the mind

cerebrovascular accident (CVA)

an accident involving the blood vessels of the brain cerebro/vascul/ar

stroke

loss of brain function caused by interruption of blood flow/supply to the brain

transient ischemic attack (TIA)

a “mini-stroke” caused by the blockage of a blood vessel, which resolves (goes away) within 24 hours trans/ient isch/em/ic

hydrocephaly

abnormal accumulation of spinal fluid in the brain hydro/cephal/y

encephalitis

inflammation of the brain encephal/itis

encephalopathy

disease of the brain encephalo/pathy

meningitis

inflammation of the meninges mening/itis

myelitis

inflammation of the spinal cord myel/itis

neuropathy

disease of the nervous system neuro/pathy

poliomyelitis

inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord polio/myel/itis

anorexia

an eating disorder characterized by the patient’s refusal to eat an/orex/ia

autism

a psychiatric disorder characterized by withdrawal from communication with others; the patient is focused only on the self aut/ism

bulimia

an eating disorder characterized by overeating and usually followed by forced vomiting or other compensatory behaviors bu/lim/ia

cerebral palsy

paralysis caused by damage to the area of the brain responsible for movement cerebr/al palsy

epilepsy

a disease marked by seizures epi/lepsy

narcolepsy

a disease characterized by sudden, uncontrolled sleepiness narco/lepsy

neurosis

a nerve condition neur/osis

psychosis

a mind condition psych/osis

schizophrenia

a mental illness characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and disordered speech

anesthetic

a drug that causes loss of sensation an/esthetic

analgesic

a drug that relieves pain an/alge/sic

anticonvulsant

a drug that opposes convulsions anti/convuls/ant

antipsychotic

a drug that opposes psychoses anti/psycho/tic

anxiolytic

a drug that lessens anxiety anxio/lyt/ic

craniectomy

removal of a piece of the skull crani/ectomy

craniotomy

incision into the skull cranio/tomy

neurectomy

removal of a nerve neur/ectomy

neurolysis

destruction of nerve tissue neuro/lysis

neuroplasty

reconstruction of a nerve neuro/plasty

neurorrhaphy

suturing of a nerve (often the severed ends of a nerve) neuro/rrhaphy