Med. Term. Chapter 13 - The Nervous System and Mental Health

cephal/o

head

cerebr/o

little brain, cerebellum

crani/o

skull

encephal/o

brain

gangli/o

swelling, knot

mening/i, menig/o

membrane

myel/o

spinal cord, medulla, myelin

neur/o

nerve

phren/o, psych/o

mind

radic/o, radicul/o

nerve root

vag/o

vagus nerve

ventrivul/o

little belly, ventricle

central nervous system (CNS)

contains the brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

contains nerves and ganglia

blood-brain barrier

keeps bacteria, harmful cells, and toxins from entering the nervous system

cerebrovascular saccident (CVA)

disruption of blood flow to the brain resulting in the loss of brain function

par-

alongside, abnormal

esthes/o

sensation

phas/o

to speak

neru/o

nerve

-algesia

pain

-asthenia

weakness

aphasia (a/phas/ia)

inability to speak

cephalgia (ceph/algia)

condition of head pain

convulsion

series of involuntary muscular spasms

hyperalgesia (hyper/algesia)

excessive sensitivity to painful stimuli

hypoalgesia (hypo/algesia)

deficient sensitivity to nomally painful stimuli

hyperesthesia (hyper/esthes/ia)

excessive sensitivity to a stimulus

neuralgia (neur/algia)

condition of nerve pain

neurasthenia (neur/asthenia)

general experience of body fatigue

paresthesia (par/esthes/ia)

abdnormal sensation of numbness and tingling caused by an injury to one or more nerves

syncope

temporary loss of consciousness due to a sudden reduction of blood flow to the brain

ather/o

fatty plaque

aut/o

self

embol/o

plug

gli/o

glue

gnos/o

knowledge

narc/o

numbness

poli/o

gray

scler/o

hard

thromb/o

clot

vascul/o

little vessel

-lepsy

seizure

-malacia

softening

-troph

development

agnosia (a/gnos/ia)

loss of the abbility to interpret sensory information

Alzheimer’s Disease

progressive brain deterioration resulting in confusion, short-term memory loss, restlessness, and cognitive losses

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

progressive atrophy of muscle caused by the hardening of nervous tissue on the lateral columns of the spinal cord

autism (aut/ism)

developmental disorder characterized by withdrawal from outward realisty and impared development in social conduct and communication

Bell’s palsy

paralysis of the face muscles on one side due to damage to the seventh cranial nerve

cerebellitis (cerebell/itis)

inflammation of the cerebellum

cerebral aneurym

arteries channeling blood to the brain are blocked

cerebral atherosclerosis (cerebr/al ather/o/scler/osis)

hardening of the cerebral arteriees

cerebral embolism

a moving blood clot in an artery of the brain

cerebral hemorrhage (cerebr/al hem/o/rrhage)

condition of bleeding from cerebral blood vessels

cerebral palsy

partial muscle paralysis that appears at birth or shortly after

coma

levels of abnormally decreased consciousness

concussion

injury to the soft tissue resulting from a blow or violent shaking

encephalitis (encephal/itis)

inflammation of the brain

encephalomalacia (encephal/o/malacia)

softening of the brain tissue

epilepsy

a chronic brain disorder characterized by recurrent seizures resulting from a sudden uncntrolled burst of electrical activity

glioma (gli/oma)

tumor of glial cells

hydrocephalus (hydr/o/cephal/us)

presence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain

meningioma (mening/i/oma)

beningn tumor of the meninges

meningitis (mening/itis)

inflammation of the membrane of the brain

meningocele (mening/o/cele)

a protrusion of the meninges

muliple celerosis (MS)

deterioration of the myelin sheath

myelitis (myel/itis)

inflammation of the spinal cord

narcolepsy (narc/o/lepsy)

sleep disorder characterized by sudden uncontrollable episodes of sleep, attacks of paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucination

neuritis (neur/itis)

inflammation of a nerve

neuroma

tumor originating from a neuron

neuropathy (neur/o/pathy)

disease of the nerves

polyneuropathy (poly/neur/o/pathy)

disease of many nerves

paraplegia (para/plegia)

muscles of the legs and lower body are paralyzed

monoplegia (mono/plegia)

one limb is paralyzed

hemiplegia (hemi/plegia)

one half of the body is paralyzed

quadriplegia (quadri/plegia)

paralysis from the neck down of all four limbs

Parkinson’s disease

progressive degenerative disease of the brain characterized by tremors, rigiditiy, and shuffling gait

polimyelitis (polio/myel/itis)

inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord sometimes resulting in paralysis or death

ventriculitis (ventricul/itis)

inflammation of the ventricles of the brain

angi/o

blood vessel

-tome

cutting instrument

-tomy

incision, to cut

analgesic

pertaining to without pain

anesthesia (an/esthes/ia)

without the condition of sensation

cerebral angiography (cerbr/al angi/o/graphy)

diagnostic procedure that reveals blood flow to the brain

computed tomography (CT Scan)

uses a computer to interpret a series of x-ray images and construct a 3d view of the brain

craiectomy (crani/ectomy)

surgical removal of part of the cranium

craniotomy (crani/o/tomy)

incision made through the cranium to provide surgical access to the brain

echoencephalography (ech/o/encephal/o/graphy)

ultrasound technology used to record brain structures in the seaerch for abnormalities

effectual drug therapy

treatment to manage neurological disorders

electoencephalography (electr/o/encephal/o/graphy)

the procedure that records electrical impulses of the brain to measure brain activity

epidural (epi/dur/al)

injection of a spinal block anesthetic into the epidural space external to the spinal cord

evoked potential studies (EP Studies)

diagnostic tests that measure changes in brain waves during particular stimuli to determine brain function

ganglionectomy (ganglion/ectomy)

surgical removal of a ganglion

lumbar puncture (LP)

withdrawal of cerebrospinal fluid from the subarachnoid space in the lumbar region of the spine. Also called a spinal tap

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

powerful magnets are used to observe soft tissues in the body including the brain

myelogram (myel/o/gram)

photograph of the spinal cord following injection of a contrast dye

neurology (neur/o/logy)

the study and medical practice of the nervous system

neurologist (neur/o/logist)

one who participats in neurological research