Clinical Neuropsychology Lecture Notes

Flashcards to review lecture notes on neurobehavioral disorders and clinical neuropsychology.

Focal damage

Affects a specific, localized area of the brain.

Diffuse damage

Spreads across multiple brain regions, often affecting overall function.

International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and health (ICF model)

Explains how health conditions affect a person’s body, daily activities, and social life from a whole-person perspective.

Neuropsychological assessment

A method of studying the brain by studying its behavioural outputs and cognitive functioning, including emotions and personality.

Interviews with patients and relatives

Help identify differences in reports from patient and their relatives, as patients may give inaccurate information due to memory issues, lack of awareness (anosognosia), or emotional indifference (anosodiaphoria).

Intrapersonal factors

Personal traits, coping styles, and beliefs about illness that can influence assessment results.

Interpersonal factors

Lifestyle, family support, and workplace or school attitudes that affect cognitive and emotional well-being.

Socio-cultural factors

Social background, healthcare access, and cultural beliefs that shape how illness is perceived and managed.

Environmental factors

Physical surroundings, such as noise, lighting, and structure, that can impact cognitive performance and comfort.

P (Patient/Population)

Who is the study about?

I (Intervention)

What is being tested or studied?

C (Comparison)

What is it being compared to (if applicable)?

O (Outcome)

What is the desired result or effect?

Health

A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

For the most common severe mental illnesses

Impairments in attention, working memory, executive functions and processing speeds are often very common and severe.

For neurodegenerative disorders

Impairments are most severe in several memory functions.

CSF

Protective fluid around central nervous system

Oxidative stress

Imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants in your body; oxidants can be damaging to cells, proteins and DNA.

Neuronal membrane

Protective barrier around each neuron.

Gut microbiome

Community of microorganisms that live in your digestive system.

Cytokines

Proteins that help regulate the immune system and play a role in inflammation and cell signaling.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)

Bleeding into the space between the brain and the thin tissues covering it, usually caused by a ruptured aneurysm, leading to a sudden severe headache, neurological deficits, and potential life-threatening complications

Aneurysms

A weakened, bulging area in a blood vessel that can rupture and cause internal bleeding, often in the brain or aorta.

Coiling

A minimally invasive procedure where a catheter is used to place tiny coils inside an aneurysm to block blood flow and prevent rupture.

Clipping

A surgical procedure where a metal clip is placed at the base of an aneurysm to stop blood flow and reduce the risk of rupture.

AVM: Arteriovenous malformation

An abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins, which can disrupt normal blood flow and increase the risk of bleeding in the brain.

Hydrocephalus

Excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up in the brain's ventricles, leading to increased pressure and potential brain damage.

Vasospasm

Arteries go into spasm in reaction to blood around them, may result in ischemia (loss of blood and oxygen).

Cerebellar ischaemia

Reduced blood flow to the cerebellum causes oxygen deprivation, potentially leading to balance issues, coordination problems, and dizziness.

Cerebellum

Coordinating movement, balance, and posture, as well as contributing to cognitive functions like attention and learning.

Nystagmus

Involuntary, repetitive movement of the eyes, which can affect vision and depth perception.

Huntington's disease

Genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain, leading to motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms

Chorea

Involuntary movements. Most common and among the earliest symptoms

Hypokinesia

Abnormally diminished motor activity; decrease in spontaneous movements. More stiff and rigid.

Bradykinesia

Slowness of movement

Dystonia

Impaired muscle tone

Rigidity

Stiffness

Anosognosia

Limited awareness of the disease and impaired insight in symptoms and consequences

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

Progressive, chronic and inflammatory neurological disorder of the central nervous system.

Myelin

Fatty substance that forms a layer, or sheath, around the axon- protects the axons and allows for a quick and efficient transfer of impulses.

Exacerbation

Sudden worsening of signs and symptoms or new symptoms

Functional connectivity

The statistical relationship, coherence, or co-activation between activity patterns in different brain regions.

Dementia

Syndrome that affects memory, thinking, and the ability to perform everyday activities.

Alzheimer’s disease dementia

A progressive brain disorder that leads to memory loss, confusion, and changes in behavior due to the buildup of abnormal protein deposits in the brain.

Parkinson’s disease dementia

Dementia that occurs in some people with Parkinson’s disease, affecting memory, thinking, and reasoning as the brain's nerve cells deteriorate.

Vascular dementia

A type of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, often due to strokes or small vessel disease, leading to problems with thinking, memory, and reasoning.

Neurodegenerative diseases

Progressive degeneration of neurons- Cell death, loss of volume and structure (MRI)

bvFTD

Progressive deterioration of behaviour and/or cognition

Early apathy or inertia

A lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concernoften manifested as an inability to initiate or engage in activities.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) neuropathology

Loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra and Lewy bodies (abnormal alpha-synuclein protein clumps) in the brain.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Acute physical injury to the brain resulting from external mechanical forces

Loss of consciousness (LOC)

Temporarily disruption or permanent damage of brain function

Coma

Prolonged state of unconsciousness where a person is unresponsive to stimuli and cannot be awakened.

Posttraumatic amnesia (PTA)

A state of confusion and memory loss following TBI, where new memories cannot be formed.

Retrograde amnesia (RA)

Memory loss for events that occurred just before the injury.

Mental fatigue

Persistent tiredness due to cognitive overload, common in TBI patients.

Different grades of malignancy

Classification of tumors based on how aggressive and fast-growing they are.

Linear forces

External forces that Cause focal lesions (contusions), which are bruises on specific brain areas due to direct impact.

Rotating forces

External forces that lead to diffuse axonal injury (DAI), where brain tissue tears due to rapid twisting or stretching.

Secondary damage

Delayed injury from swelling, lack of oxygen, or metabolic changes, leading to further brain dysfunction.

Neuropsychological assessment

Evaluates cognitive and behavioral effects of brain injury using tests and imaging, helping determine recovery potential.

Executive functions

High-level cognitive abilities like planning, problem-solving, and decision-making, often impaired after TBI.

Social cognition

The ability to understand and respond to social cues, which can be impaired in TBI, leading to difficulties in relationships.

Body functions and structures

How the brain's function and structure are affected by the injury.

Complaints/symptoms

Two dimensions. The physical or mental issues a person experiences after the injury.

Level of functioning and participation

How well a person can perform daily tasks and engage in social or work activities.

Awake surgery

A procedure where the patient stays conscious to help doctors protect important brain functions during tumor removal.

Abscess

Localized collection of pus within the brain or spinal cord, typically caused by bacterial or fungal infections.

Aphasia

A language disorder caused by non-congenital focal brain damage after language has been acquired

Apraxia of speech (AoS)

Neurological speech disorder- Planning and programming

Dysarthria

Neurological speech motor disorder; Articulation

Agnosia

Difficulty recognizing or interpreting information.

Amusia

Affects a person's ability to recognize or produce music, often resulting in difficulty with melody, rhythm, or pitch.

Secondary brain tumors

Cancers that spread to the brain from other parts of the body, like the lungs, breasts, or skin.

Primary brain tumors

Originate in the brain and do not spread from other parts of the body.

Glioma

Origination from glial cells; supportive cells in the brain. Name is related to the specific cells that are affected, interwined with healthy brain tissue.

Meningioma

From meninges

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)

A non-invasive therapy that uses repeated magnetic pulses to stimulate brain areas, often for depression or neurological disorders.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

A non-invasive technique that uses a low electrical current to modulate brain activity, often for improving mood or cognitive function.

Neurofeedback

Trains individuals to regulate their brain activity by providing real-time feedback on brainwave patterns.

Perception

The brain's way of interpreting sensory information to understand the world around us. The brain predicts.

Neurovisual disorders

Vision problems caused by brain damage or dysfunction, not issues with the eyes themselves.

Hemianopia

Vision loss in half of the visual field in one or both eyes due to brain damage.

Agnosia

Inability to visually recognize or identify objects or people despite having ‘normal’ visual functions, memory, attention, etc.

Prosopagnosia

Damage to the Fusiform Face Area (FFA): Trouble recognizing faces.

Dorsal simultanagnosia

A condition where a person can only focus on one object at a time and cannot perceive multiple objects simultaneously.

Epilepsy

A neurological disorder that causes recurrent seizures due to abnormal electrical activity in the brain.

Epilepsy

A chronic disease of the brain characterized by an enduring (i.e., persisting) predisposition to generate seizures, unprovoked by any immediate central nervous system insult, and by the neurobiological, cognitive, psychological, and social consequences of seizure recurrence.

Focal onset seizures

Seizures that start in one specific area of the brain and may affect awareness or movement.

Generalized onset seizures

Seizures that begin in both sides of the brain at the same time, often causing loss of consciousness or widespread muscle movements.

Seizure classification

Putting seizures into categories depending their start place and symptoms

Epilepsy classification

Putting epilepsy into groups based on seizure type, cause, and affected brain areas.

Functional Neurological Disorder

Uncontrollable patterns that look like an epileptic fit.

Mental illness

Health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.

Biomedical model for understanding mental illness

Views mental illness as a result of biological factors like genetics, brain chemistry, or neurological dysfunction, emphasizing medical treatment.

Mania

heightened energy, mood, and impulsivity, often seen in bipolar disorder

Psychosis

A condition where a person loses touch with reality, experiencing delusions or hallucinations.

Negative symptoms

Reduced ability to feel pleasure, express emotions, or engage in social activities, common in schizophrenia.

Cognitive impairment

Difficulties with thinking, memory, or decision-making, often seen in conditions like dementia or schizophrenia.

Depression

A condition where a person becomes sad and depressed over a long period