Neuro Disorders, Injuries & Care – Comprehensive Study Notes

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering nervous system anatomy, headache types, seizure terminology, cerebrovascular events, traumatic and spinal cord injuries, degenerative diseases, and cognitive disorders for exam preparation.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Composed of the brain and spinal cord; responsible for integrating sensory information and coordinating bodily functions.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

All neural structures outside the CNS, including 31 spinal nerves, 12 cranial nerves, and the autonomic nervous system.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

Involuntary motor system that regulates cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and glands; subdivided into sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.

Sympathetic Division

"Fight-or-flight" branch of the ANS that increases heart rate, blood pressure, and redirects blood flow away from the GI tract.

Parasympathetic Division

"Rest-and-digest" branch of the ANS that conserves energy, slows heart rate, and stimulates gastrointestinal activity.

Primary Headache

Headache in which the headache itself is the disorder (e.g., migraine, tension-type, cluster).

Secondary Headache

Headache that occurs as a symptom of another condition, such as trauma, infection, or increased intracranial pressure.

Tension-Type Headache

Mild-to-moderate bilateral "band-like" pressure often linked to stress or poor posture; may include neck and shoulder tightness.

Cluster Headache

Severe unilateral retro-orbital pain with lacrimation and nasal congestion; occurs in cyclical patterns or "clusters."

Migraine

Recurrent throbbing headache often preceded by prodrome and aura phases; leading cause of disability in women >50 yr.

Migraine Prodrome

Hours–days before migraine; mood change, food cravings, or yawning signal impending attack.

Migraine Aura

Transient sensory disturbances (visual scintillations, odors, pins & needles) that precede or accompany the headache phase.

Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)

Neurological scoring system (Eye 4, Verbal 5, Motor 6) used to assess level of consciousness; 13–15 =mild TBI, 9–12 =moderate, <9 =severe.

Seizure

Sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain causing changes in behavior, movement, or consciousness.

Epilepsy

Chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures.

Prodromal Phase (Seizure)

Hours–days before a seizure; nonspecific symptoms such as mood changes or headache.

Seizure Aura

Early ictal sensation (odor, visual halo, taste) that warns a patient of an impending seizure.

Ictal Phase

Active seizure period; onset to end of abnormal neuronal firing—must be timed by caregivers.

Post-Ictal Phase

Period after a seizure (5–30 min) marked by fatigue, confusion, nausea, or headache until baseline returns.

Focal (Partial) Seizure

Begins in one cerebral hemisphere; awareness may be retained or impaired; may have motor or non-motor features.

Generalized Seizure

Involves both hemispheres with loss of consciousness; includes tonic-clonic, absence, myoclonic, atonic, etc.

Tonic-Clonic Seizure

Loss of consciousness followed by tonic stiffening and rhythmic clonic jerks; post-ictal confusion common.

Atonic Seizure

Sudden loss of muscle tone causing falls; patients often need protective helmets.

Myoclonic Seizure

Brief, shock-like muscle jerks with preserved awareness.

Absence Seizure

Abrupt staring spell ("blanking out") sometimes with automatisms; common in children.

Status Epilepticus

Seizure lasting ≥5 min or two seizures without return to baseline; neurologic emergency requiring rapid treatment.

Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)

Brief episode of neurological dysfunction from focal brain ischemia without permanent damage; warning sign for stroke.

FAST Screening

Public stroke recognition tool: Face droop, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call EMS.

Ischemic Stroke

Persistent neurologic deficit due to thrombotic or embolic arterial occlusion in the brain.

Hemorrhagic Stroke

Bleeding into brain tissue or subarachnoid space causing sudden "worst headache" and neurological deficit.

Cerebral Edema

Swelling of brain tissue leading to increased intracranial pressure, headache, confusion, and possible herniation.

Increased Intracranial Pressure (ICP)

Pathologic rise in pressure within the skull; signs include headache, vomiting, visual changes, and decreased level of consciousness.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Any brain dysfunction caused by external force, ranging from concussion to diffuse axonal injury or hematoma.

Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI)

Rotational shearing of white-matter tracts, especially brainstem, leading to prolonged coma.

Concussion

Mild TBI with transient neurological symptoms such as headache, dizziness, and temporary amnesia.

Subdural Hematoma

Bleeding between dura mater and brain, acute or chronic; can cause increased ICP and require surgical evacuation.

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Damage to the spinal cord resulting in motor and sensory deficits below the level of lesion; classified as complete or incomplete.

Tetraplegia

Paralysis of all four limbs due to cervical spinal cord injury (C1–T1).

Paraplegia

Paralysis of lower limbs due to thoracic, lumbar, or sacral spinal cord injury (T2–S5).

Spinal Shock

Immediate, transient loss of all cord function below injury—flaccidity, areflexia, and bowel/bladder loss.

Autonomic Dysreflexia

Life-threatening sympathetic surge in SCI patients above T6 triggered by noxious stimuli, causing severe hypertension and bradycardia.

Neurogenic Shock

Hypotension, bradycardia, and hypothermia resulting from loss of sympathetic tone after SCI.

Parkinson’s Disease (PD)

Neurodegenerative disorder of substantia nigra causing dopamine depletion and classic motor triad of tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia.

Resting Tremor

Involuntary oscillation of a body part occurring at rest, characteristic of Parkinson’s disease.

Bradykinesia

Slowness of movement seen in Parkinson’s disease, leading to difficulty initiating actions.

Muscular Rigidity

Increased resistance to passive movement; "cogwheel" rigidity common in Parkinson’s disease.

Lewy Bodies

Intraneuronal alpha-synuclein protein inclusions found in Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

Peripheral Neuropathy

Demyelination or axonal loss in peripheral nerves, causing pain, paresthesia, and weakness, often in diabetes.

Wallerian Degeneration

Process of axon degeneration distal to injury, contributing to foot/ankle weakness in peripheral neuropathy.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the CNS with varying patterns of relapse and progression.

Relapsing-Remitting MS

Most common MS form with episodes of neurologic dysfunction followed by partial or full recovery.

Trigeminal Neuralgia (MS)

Sharp, stabbing facial pain caused by demyelination of the trigeminal nerve in MS patients.

Lhermitte’s Sign

Electric-shock sensation down the spine on neck flexion, indicative of cervical demyelination in MS.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

Progressive neurodegenerative dementia marked by beta-amyloid plaques, tau tangles, and early short-term memory loss.

Beta-Amyloid Plaques

Extracellular protein aggregates depositing between neurons in Alzheimer’s disease.

Tau Tangles

Intracellular neurofibrillary tangles disrupting neuronal transport in Alzheimer’s disease.

Delirium

Acute, fluctuating disturbance of consciousness and cognition often caused by drugs, infection, or metabolic imbalance; reversible with treatment.