CHAPTER 3 & 4 MAIN POINTS

What is an etiology?

The underlying medical cause of a symptom or deficit.

What is an idiopathic etiology?

An etiology of unknown origin.

What usually causes neurogenic communication disorders?

Damage to the CNS, PNS, or both.

Name five common etiologies of neurogenic communication disorders.

Stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), surgical trauma, degenerative disorders, and infectious diseases.

What defines a stroke?

Interruption of blood flow to a part of the brain by a clot or hemorrhage.

What are the two main categories of stroke?

Ischemic and hemorrhagic.

What occurs during an ischemic stroke?

A blood vessel supplying blood to the brain is occluded or blocked.

What are the three main forms of ischemic stroke?

• Thrombotic,

• embolic, and

• transient ischemic attacks (TIAs).

What is a thrombotic stroke?

An occlusion that forms within a blood vessel, restricting blood flow to the brain.

What causes a thrombus?

Usually a result of atherosclerosis.

What is an embolic stroke?

A mass traveling through the vascular system lodges in a blood vessel and restricts blood flow.

What are transient ischemic attacks (TIAs)?

Small ischemia that resolves within 24 hours and do not cause permanent damage.

What happens during a hemorrhagic stroke?

A blood vessel within the brain ruptures.

What is one mechanism of damage caused by hemorrhagic strokes?

Blood supply to a portion of the brain is interrupted.

What are the two main forms of hemorrhagic strokes?

Subarachnoid and intracerebral.

What is an aneurysm?

Abnormal stretching or ballooning of an arterial wall.

What can cause an aneurysm?

Hypertension, disease, hereditary factors, or atherosclerosis.

What is a primary brain tumor?

A tumor that originates in the brain.

What is a secondary brain tumor?

A cancerous tumor that has spread from another part of the body to the brain.

What characterizes a malignant brain tumor?

It is brain cancer.

What can result from surgical trauma in the brain?

Acquired language and cognitive deficits.

What are some types of infections that can affect the CNS and PNS?

Viral, fungal, bacterial, or parasitic.

What is encephalitis?

An acute inflammatory infection of the brain or spinal cord.

What is HIV/AIDS known to cause?

Neurologic changes and deficits, often referred to as neuro-AIDS.

What is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease caused by?

A small infectious protein called a prion.

What happens during a seizure?

Sudden abnormal levels of electrical discharge in the brain.

What are the three primary stages of a seizure?

Aura, ictus, postictus.

What occurs during the ictus stage of a seizure?

Loss of consciousness and convulsions.

What characterizes partial seizures?

Abnormal electrical activity is contained within a specific region of the brain.

What are the two primary forms of partial seizures?

Simple partial seizures and complex partial seizures.

What characterizes generalized seizures?

Abnormal electrical activity affects the entire brain and results in total loss of consciousness.

What are the two forms of generalized seizures?

Tonic-clonic seizures and petit mal seizures.

What is aphasia?

An acquired deficit in language resulting from brain damage.

What often causes aphasia?

A stroke to the left cerebral hemisphere.

What are the two types of language deficits in aphasia?

Expressive language deficits and receptive language deficits.

What are expressive language deficits?

Difficulty formulating or producing language to communicate an intended meaning.

Where are lesions typically located for expressive language deficits?

In the anterior left cerebral hemisphere, often near Broca’s area.

What are receptive language deficits?

Difficulty deriving meaning from verbal or written language.

Where are lesions typically located for receptive language deficits?

In the posterior left hemisphere, often near Wernicke’s area.

What is anomia?

A word-finding deficit.

What is agrammatism?

The lack of appropriate grammatical construction of language.

What is alexia?

An acquired impairment of reading.

What is agraphia?

An acquired impairment in the ability to form letters or words for written language.

What are the types of aphasia therapies?

Restorative, compensatory, and social.

What is a key aspect of restorative approaches?

They are based on the idea of neuroplasticity.

What is Schuell’s stimulation therapy?

A therapy that reestablishes lost language abilities through auditory stimuli.

What is the purpose of communication partner training?

To facilitate the communication of the person with aphasia by changing the behavior of those interacting with them.