The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the Aphasia article. Aphasia: One in a group of speech disorders in which there is a defect or loss of the power of expression by speech, writing, or signs, or a defect or loss of the power of comprehension of spoken or written language. See, for example, auditory aphasia .
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Apraxia: The inability to execute a voluntary motor movement despite being able to demonstrate normal muscle function. Apraxia is not related to a lack of understanding or to any kind of physical paralysis but is caused by a problem in the cortex of the brain.
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Apraxia of speech: A severe speech disorder characterized by inability to speak, or a severe struggle to speak clearly. Apraxia of speech occurs when the oral- motor muscles do not or cannot obey commands from the brain, or when the brain cannot reliably send those commands. Children with apraxia can be helped significantly with intensive speech therapy.
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Arm: 1. In popular usage, the appendage that extends from the shoulder to the hand. However, the medical definition refers to the upper extremity extending from the shoulder only to the elbow, excluding the forearm, which extends from the elbow to the wrist. The arm contains one bone: the humerus. 2. In a randomized clinical trial, any of the treatment groups. Most randomized trials have two "arms," but some have three "arms," or even more.
Blood: The familiar red fluid in the body that contains white and red blood cells, platelets, proteins, and other elements. The blood is transported throughout the body by the circulatory system. Blood functions in two directions: arterial and venous. Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues while venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported to the lungs and kidneys, respectively, for removal from the body.
Brain: That part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium ( skull ). The brain functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body. It has two (right and left) halves called "hemispheres."
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Brain tumor : A benign or malignant growth in the brain. Primary brain tumors arise in brain tissue. Secondary brain tumors are cancers that have spread to the brain tissue (metastasized) from elsewhere in the body. Brain tumors can and do occur at any age.
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Computed tomography: An x-ray procedure that uses the help of a computer to produce a detailed picture of a cross section of the body. Also called a CT scan or CAT scan.
Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contrast, for example, between blood vessels and other tissue.
Deafness: Deafness is defined by partial or complete hearing loss. Levels of hearing impairment vary from a mild but important loss of sensitivity to a total loss of hearing. Older adults suffer most often from hearing loss. Age-related hearing loss affects 30 to 35 percent of the population between the ages of 65 and 75 years, and 40 percent of the population over the age of 75. The most common cause of hearing loss in children is otitis media, a disorder that affects predominantly infants and young children. A substantial number of hearing impairments are caused by environmental factors such as noise, drugs, and toxins. Many sensorineural hearing losses result from a genetic predisposition.
Dysarthria: Speech that is characteristically slurred, slow, and difficult to produce (difficult to understand). The person with dysarthria may also have problems controlling the pitch, loudness, rhythm, and voice qualities of their speech.
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Family: 1. A group of individuals related by blood or marriage or by a feeling of closeness. 2. A biological classification of related plants or animals that is a division below the order and above the genus. 3. A group of genes related in structure and in function that descended from an ancestral gene. 4. A group of gene products similarly related in structure and function and of shared genetic descent. 5. Parents and their children. The most fundamental social group in humans.
fMRI: Functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Frontal: In anatomy, pertaining to the forehead. As, for example, the frontal bone, frontal sinus, and frontal nerve. From the Latin "frons" meaning the forehead or brow.
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Frontal lobe: The part of each hemisphere of the brain located behind the forehead that serves to regulate and mediate the higher intellectual functions. The frontal lobes have intricate connections to other areas of the brain. In the frontal lobes, we meld emotions, cognition, error detection, volition, a sense of self, and more to create our social brain.
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Group therapy: 1) A type of psychiatric care in which several patients meet with one or more therapists at the same time. The patients form a support group for each other as well as receiving expert care and advice. The group therapy model is particularly appropriate for psychiatric illnesses that are support-intensive, such as anxiety disorders, but is not well suited for treatment of some other psychiatric disorders. 2) A type of psychoanalysis in which patients analyze each other with the assistance of one or more psychotherapists, as in an "encounter group."
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Handedness: The preferential use of one hand for most fine manual tasks. Right handedness is the preferential use of the right hand while left handedness is the preferential use of the left hand for most fine manual tasks. Being able to use both hands equally well is known as being ambidextrous . Approximately 90% of the population is right-handed while about 10% is left-handed. A very small percentage of the population is ambidextrous.
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Health: As officially defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Injury: Harm or hurt. The term "injury" may be applied in medicine to damage inflicted upon oneself as in a hamstring injury or by an external agent on as in a cold injury. The injury may be accidental or deliberate, as with a needlestick injury. The term "injury" may be synonymous (depending on the context) with a wound or with trauma.
Leg: In popular usage, the leg extends from the top of the thigh down to the foot. However, in medical terminology, the leg refers to the portion of the lower extremity from the knee to the ankle.
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Lobe: Part of an organ that appears to be separate in some way from the rest. A lobe may be demarcated from the rest of the organ by a fissure (crack), sulcus (groove), connective tissue or simply by its shape. For example, there are the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes of the brain.
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Magnetic resonance imaging : A special radiology technique designed to image internal structures of the body using magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce the images of body structures. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scanner is a tube surrounded by a giant circular magnet. The patient is placed on a moveable bed that is inserted into the magnet. The magnet creates a strong magnetic field that aligns the protons of hydrogen atoms, which are then exposed to a beam of radio waves. This spins the various protons of the body, and they produce a faint signal that is detected by the receiver portion of the MRI scanner. A computer processes the receiver information, and an image is produced. The image and resolution is quite detailed and can detect tiny changes of structures within the body, particularly in the soft tissue, brain and spinal cord, abdomen and joints.
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MRI: Abbreviation and nickname for magnetic resonance imaging. For more information, see: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Paul C. Lauterbur; Peter Mansfield.
Neurologist: A doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the nervous system.
Oxygen: A colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that makes up about 20% of the air we breathe (and at least half the weight of the entire solid crust of the earth) and which combines with most of the other elements to form oxides. Oxygen is essential to human, animal and plant life.
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Paralysis: Loss of voluntary movement (motor function). Paralysis that affects only one muscle or limb is partial paralysis, also known as palsy; paralysis of all muscles is total paralysis, as may occur in cases of botulism.
Pathologist: A doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope.
Positron emission tomography: PET. A highly specialized imaging technique that uses short-lived radioactive substances to produce three-dimensional colored images of those substances functioning within the body. These images are called PET scans and the technique is termed PET scanning.
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Speech-language pathologist: A specialist who evaluates and treats communication disorders and swallowing problems . A speech-language pathologist is sometimes called a speech therapist or speech pathologist.
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Stroke : The sudden death of some brain cells due to a lack of oxygen when the blood flow to the brain is impaired by blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain. A stroke is also called a cerebrovascular accident or, for short, a CVA.
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Temporal: 1. Pertaining to time, limited in time, temporary, or transient.
2. Pertaining to the temple region of the head. The temporal lobe of the brain is located beneath the temple.
From the Latin tempus which means both time and the temple of the head.
Temporal lobe: The lobe of the cerebral hemisphere located down on the side just forward of the occipital lobe. The temporal lobe contains the auditory cortex which is responsible for hearing. It is also the site of the seizure activity characteristic of temporal-lobe epilepsy.
Therapy: The treatment of disease .
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Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram , a two-dimensional image of a slice or section through a three-dimensional object. Tomography achieves this remarkable result by simply moving an x-ray source in one direction as the x-ray film is moved in the opposite direction during the exposure to sharpen structures in the focal plane, while structures in other planes appear blurred. The tomogram is the picture; the tomograph is the apparatus; and tomography is the process.
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Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are a classic sign of inflammation, and can be benign or malignant (cancerous). There are dozens of different types of tumors. Their names usually reflect the kind of tissue they arise in, and may also tell you something about their shape or how they grow. For example, a medulloblastoma is a tumor that arises from embryonic cells (a blastoma) in the inner part of the brain (the medulla). Diagnosis depends on the type and location of the tumor. Tumor marker tests and imaging may be used; some tumors can be seen (for example, tumors on the exterior of the skin) or felt (palpated with the hands).
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- Brain Tumor - Read about brain tumor symptoms such as headaches, nausea or vomiting, balance and walking problems, mood and personality changes, memory problems, and numbness or tingling in the legs.
- Stroke - Learn about strokes symtoms like sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arms, or legs, confusion, vision problems, problems with walking or coordination, or severe headache.
- Learning Disabilities - Read about learning disabilities, like the skills affected such as reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and mathematics. Causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment information is included.
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