Chapter 12 Nervous System

Question 1

Neurologists/Neurology

Answer 1

Physicians who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of neurologic disorders; the specialty

neur/o = nerve
-logy = study of

Question 2

Amnesia

Answer 2

Loss of memory caused by brain damage or severe emotional trauma

Question 3

Aphasia

Answer 3

Lack or impairment of the ability to form or understand speech

Less severe forms include dysphasia and dysarthria; dysarthria refers to difficulty in the articulation (pronunciation) of speech

a- = without
phas/o = speech
-ia = condition

Question 4

Athetosis

Answer 4

Continuous, involuntary, slow, writhing movement of the extremities

Question 5

Aura

Answer 5

Premonition; sensation of light or warmth that may precede an epileptic seizure or the onset of some types of headache

Question 6

Dysphasia

Answer 6

condition of difficulty with swallowing

dys- = difficult
phag/o = eat
-ia = condition

Question 7

Dyssomnia

Answer 7

Disorders of the sleep-wake cycles. Insomnia is the inability to sleep or stay asleep

Hypersomnia is excessive depth or length of sleep, which may be accompanied by daytime sleepiness

dys- = difficult
somn/o = sleep
-ia = condition

Question 8

Fasciculation

Answer 8

Involuntary contraction of small, local muscles

Question 9

Gait, abnormal

Answer 9

Disorder in the manner of walking

Ex. ataxia, a lack of muscular coordination, as in cerebral palsy (CP)

Question 10

Hypokinesia

Answer 10

Decrease in normal movement; may be due to paralysis

hypo- = deficient
kinesi/o = movement
-ia = condition

Question 11

Neuralgia

Answer 11

Nerve pain

If described as a “burning pain,” it is called causalgia

neur/o = nerve
-algia = pain

Question 12

Paresthesia

Answer 12

Feeling of prickling, burning, or numbness

para- = abnormal
esthesi/o = feeling
-ia = condition

Question 13

Seizure

Answer 13

Neuromuscular reaction to abnormal electrical activity within the brain

Causes include fever or epilepsy, a recurring seizure disorder; also called convulsions

Question 14

Spasm

Answer 14

Involuntary muscle contraction of sudden onset.

Ex. hiccoughs, tics, and stuttering

Question 15

Syncope

Answer 15

Fainting. A vasovagal attack is a form of syncope that results from abrupt emotional stress involving the vagus nerve’s effect on blood vessels

Question 16

Tremors

Answer 16

Rhythmic, quivering, purposeless skeletal muscle movements seen in some elderly individuals and in patients with various neurodegenerative disorders

Question 17

Vertigo

Answer 17

Dizziness; abnormal sensation of movement when there is none—either of oneself moving, or of objects moving around oneself

Question 18

Acalculia

Answer 18

Inability to perform mathematical calculations

a- = no, not, without
calcul/o = stone
-ia = condition

Question 19

Ageusia

Answer 19

Absence of the ability to taste

Parageusia is an abnormal sense of taste or a bad taste in the mouth

a- = no, not, without
geus/o = taste
-ia = condition

Question 20

Agnosia

Answer 20

Inability to recognize objects visually, auditorily, or with other senses

a- = no, not, without
gnos/o = knowledge
-ia = condition

Question 21

Agraphia

Answer 21

inability to write

a- = no, not, without
graph/o = record
-ia = condition

Question 22

Anosmia

Answer 22

lack of sense of smell

an- = no, not, without
osm/o = sense of smell
-ia = condition

Question 23

Apraxia

Answer 23

Inability to perform purposeful movements or to use objects appropriately

a- = no, not, without
prax/o = purposeful movement
-ia = condition

Question 24

Dyslexia

Answer 24

Inability or difficulty with reading and/or writing

dys- = difficult
lex/o = word
-ia = condition

Question 25

Encephalitis

Answer 25

Inflammation of the brain, most frequently caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito encephal/o = brain -itis = inflammation

Question 26

Meningitis

Answer 26

Any infection or inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, most commonly due to viral infection, although more severe strains are bacterial or fungal in nature mening/o = meninges -itis = inflammation

Question 27

Neuritis

Answer 27

inflammation of the nerves neur/o = nerve -itis = inflammation

Question 28

poliomyelitis

Answer 28

Inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord caused by a poliovirus Severe forms cause paralysis polio- = gray myel/o = spinal cord -itis = inflammation

Question 29

Polyneuritis

Answer 29

inflammation of several peripheral nerves poly- = many neur/o = nerve -itis = inflammation

Question 30

Radiculitis

Answer 30

Inflammation of the root of a spinal nerve radicul/o = nerve -itis = inflammation

Question 31

Sciatica

Answer 31

Inflammation of the sciatic nerve Symptoms include pain and tenderness along the path of the nerve through the thigh and leg

Question 32

Shingles

Answer 32

Acute infection caused by the reactivation of the latent varicella-zoster virus (chicken pox) characterized by the development of vesicular skin eruption underlying the route of cranial or spinal nerves; also called herpes zoster

Question 33

Diplegia

Answer 33

Paralysis of the same body part on both sides of the body di- = two -plegia = paralysis

Question 34

Hemiparesis

Answer 34

Muscular weakness or slight paralysis on the left or right side of the body hemi- = half -paresis = slight paralysis

Question 35

Hemiplagia

Answer 35

Paralysis on the left or right side of the body hemi- = half -plegia = paralysis

Question 36

Monoparesis

Answer 36

Weakness or slight paralysis of one limb on the left or right side of the body mono- = one -paresis = slight paralysis

Question 37

Monoplegia

Answer 37

Paralysis of one limb on the left or right side of the body mono- = one -plegia = paralysis

Question 38

Paraparesis

Answer 38

slight paralysis of the lower limbs and trunk para- = abnormal -paresis = slight paralysis

Question 39

Paraplegia

Answer 39

Paralysis of the lower limbs and trunk para- = abnormal -plegia = paralysis

Question 40

Quadriparesis

Answer 40

Weakness or slight paralysis of the arms, legs, and trunk quadri- = four -paresis = slight paralysis

Question 41

Quadriplegia

Answer 41

Paralysis of arms, legs, and trunk quadri- = four -plegia = paralysis