Neuropsych Flashcards
(294 cards)
Dysarthria
Disorder of speech, usually occurring secondary to stroke that causes a loss of control over the muscles of face and mouth. Pts. may drool, speak slowly, slur words, and display limited mouth and jaw movement.
Pure Alexia
A disorder of reading (AKA alexia without agraphia). Can spell and recognize words spelled to them but have great difficulty reading. Caused by damage to the connection between the visual cortex and the angular gyrus
Ataxia
A neurological disorder characterized by clumsy movements and poor coordination of musles.
Apraxia
Inability to move despite the urge and physical fitness necessary to do so. Can be very specific, ex. constructional apraxia, which only involves difficulty with drawing objects or constructing simple models.
Kluver-Bucy Sndrome
Neurological disorder thought to be caused by brain damage due to trauma or herpes encephalitis. Pts behave in sexually inappropriate ways, tend to put objects in mouth. May suffer from visual agnosia.
Ganser Syndrome
Factitious disorder where pts mimic behaviors they believe are characteristic of psychosis. May respond with nonsensical words when asked questions, engage in echolalia and echopraxia (rpting mvmts).
Angular Gyrsu
Located in the parietal lobe, just behind Wernickes area. Located on the margin of the occipital and temporal lobes. SErves to coordinate visual, spatial, and language-related information.
Causes of Gerstmann’s Syndrome
Thought to be due to damage to the left parietal lobe in the area of angular gyrys
Gertsmann’s Syndrome
Finger agnosia, right-left confusion, acalculia or dyscalculia, and agraphia. This is different from motor agraphia (find motor probe; poor muscle tone)
Occipital Lobe Damage
Results in visual-perceptual deficits, such as devpmt of scotomas; in addition visual hallucinations or illusions, (objects abnormally sized or colored), may become unable to read (alexia) or write (agraphia)
Parietal lobe damage
Causes abnormalities in body image and spatial perception; damage to the right parietal lobe can lead to contralateral neglect, construction apraxia, and anosognosia. Damage to the left results in Gertsmann’s Syndrome.
Temporal Lobe damage
Causes auditory disturbances including auditory hallucinations, probs with visual perception, difficulty with language comprehension (Wernicke’s aphasia), and impaired long term memory (anterograde amnesia)
Anterior Cingulate Cortex Damage
ACC allows for communication between cortex and limbic system. Also helps focus attention on tasks. ACC damage associated with inability to detect errors, difficulty resolving contradictory stimuli, emotional instability, poor attention, control, and loss of voluntary movement and speech.
Primary Motor Cortex
Executes movements. Damage here associated w/difficulties w/fine finger movement and a loss of speed and strength in the hands/limbs
Motor Association Cortex
Involved in the planning of movement. Damage here may cause difficulties coordinating the muscle movements required for speech
Broca’s Area
Located in the left inferior frontal cortex and involved in word retrieval. Damage may cause Broca’s aphasia (an inability to retrieve words)
Orbitofrontal Cortex
OFC - Associated with judgment, self-monitoring, and processing emotionally arousing stimuli. Damage here associated with poor or heightened response to threatening stimuli, poor decision making and judgment, and poor risk assessment (also disinhibited bx)
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
DLPFC - Associated with short term memory and top-down attentional control. Damage to this region associated with difficulties with concentration/attn., and poor recall of recently learned info
Prefrontal Cortex subdivisions
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex,, Broca’s area, motor association cortex, and primary motor cortex
Damage to prefrontal cortex
Personality changes, and disturbances in planning, initiation, judgment,a nd goal-oriented behavior
Prefrontal cortex responsible for
Involved in executive function, planning, decision-making, attentional control, updating working memory
Caudate nucleus
Located within basal ganglia, may be involved in learning and memory and generating feelings of love; abnormalities in caudate nucleus linked to OCD
Cingulate Gyrus
Locate in the medial brain; receives input from the thalamus, somatosensory cortex, and other cortical areas; helps focus attn on tasks, and relay info between limbic system and higher cortical areas
Precocious puberty
A condition from premature activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadotropic axis. Leads to early sexual maturation