Cognitive and Sensory Alterations (Chapter 31)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering cognitive and sensory alterations, medical conditions, and nursing care considerations based on the lecture notes.

Cognition

What a person knows, influenced by their awareness and judgment of what they are experiencing through perception.

Sensation

A feeling that can occur inside or outside the body when conditions stimulate sensory receptors.

Plasticity

The brain's ability to change and relocate functions if damage occurs.

Perception

The process by which the brain perceives and interprets information from a stimulus.

Rectular Activating System (RAS)

The system in the brain that controls alertness and attention.

Sensory adaptation

A process, also referred to as alarm fatigue, where impulses that are not assigned as a priority by the brain are ignored even when the person is awake.

General senses

The senses of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain, which are perceived through tactile receptors located in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue.

Olfactory

The sense of smell, occurring in the upper nasal passages where nerve endings react to chemicals via chemoreceptors.

Gustatory

The sense of taste (also called gustation), which requires chemoreceptors on the tongue, roof of the mouth, and throat to come in direct contact with a stimulus.

Auricle

The sense of hearing (also called auditory), where sound waves are collected in the outer ear to vibrate the eardrum and ossicles.

Scintillateral canal

Part of the labriness in the inner ear containing receptor cells that interpret head position to help maintain equilibrium or balance.

Rods

Photoreceptors in the retina responsible for the porphyria.

Cones

Photoreceptors in the retina responsible for color and detail.

Delirium

A reversible state of acute confusion and changed cognition that can develop in $1$ to $2$ days, often caused by medical conditions or medications.

Depression

A mood disorder characterized by a sense of hopelessness, loss of interest, and sadness, which usually has a rapid onset and is often reversible.

Dementia

Also called chronic confusion, it is a permanent, non-reversible decline in cognitive abilities such as thinking, reasoning, and memory.

Alzheimer's disease

The most common type of dementia; a degenerative pathological condition involving the buildup of amyloid plaques between nerve cells which cause the brain to atrophy.

Sundowning

A behavior where agitation and confusion in patients with dementia get worse in the evening time.

Receptive aphasia

A condition where a person cannot comprehend written or spoken language, even though they can hear.

Expressive aphasia

A condition where a person understands what is being said but cannot communicate or express themselves.

Meningitis

An infection in the lining of the brain caused by a virus or bacteria that can lead to temporary mental changes.

Peripheral neuropathy

Damage to nerves away from the center of the body (arms or legs), common in diabetes or renal disease, which makes it difficult to feel sharp objects or temperature changes.

Anosomia

The complete loss of the sense of smell.

Presbycusis

A slow-effect, age-related hearing loss that affects both ears at the same time and tends to run in families.

Vertigo

A symptom associated with Meniere's disease where it looks like things are moving around the person.

Tinnitus

A ringing or other sound in the ear that can affect a person's equilibrium.

Myopia

The most common type of vision problem, also known as nearsightedness, where objects are only clear at a short distance.

Presbyopia

Farsightedness in older people characterized by a decrease in the ability to focus on near objects, usually starting around age $40$.

Cataract

A blurring of vision usually occurring with aging or caused by UV rays, which can be corrected by surgery.

Glaucoma

A condition involving increased intraocular pressure in the eyeball that puts pressure on the optic nerve and causes loss of peripheral vision.

Diabetic retinopathy

A complication of uncontrolled diabetes involving microvascular disease where blood vessels in the retina are damaged, causing vision distortion or blindness.

Macular degeneration

A leading cause of visual defects in the U.S. starting around age $50$, characterized by the loss of central vision and diminished visual acuity.

Sensory deprivation

A state resulting from a lack of environmental stimuli or an inability to receive stimuli, often causing boredom, restlessness, and social isolation.

Sensory overload

A condition where the brain is overstimulated and cannot make sense of incoming stimuli, common in $ICU$ settings, leading to anxiety and confusion.

Metabolic syndrome

A group of risk factors (high blood pressure, high fasting glucose, visceral fat, low $HDL$, high triglycerides) that increase the risk for sensory deficits and coronary artery disease.

Furacamide

A medication that is noted to be ototoxic, meaning it affects the hearing.

Clock method

A technique used to orient visually impaired patients to their food plate using the positions of $12:00$, $03:00$, $06:00$, and $09:00$.