Category: B

This part of the brain includes the pons and the medulla oblongata. The brain stem is the major route by which the forebrain sends information to and receives information from the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The brain stem controls, among other things, respiration and heart rhythm. All of the brain except the cerebrum and…

The process by which the brain synthesizes, degrades, and alters chemical substrates for repair and function.  

Any technique that permits the in vivo visualization of the substance of the central nervous system (CNS). The best known of such techniques is computed tomography (CT). Newer methods of brain imaging such as positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are based on different physical principles…

A culture-specific syndrome observed initially in West Africa. It refers to a condition experienced by high school or university students in response to the challenges of schooling. Symptoms in clude difficulties in concentrating, remembering, and thinking. “Brain tiredness” or fatigue from “too much thinking” are idioms of distress in many cultures, and resulting syndromes resemble…

Computer-enhanced analysis and display of electroencephalographic and evoked response studies. In evoked response studies, a stimulus (e.g., flashing light) is presented to the individual, and the responses are recorded electrically from scalp electrodes. Computers translate the information into a topographic, colored display of electrical activity over the surface of the brain. It is useful in…

The part of the nervous system contained in the skull; it includes the cerebrum, midbrain, cerebellum, pons, and medulla oblongata. Mechanisms and neurochemicals in the brain (their signals, neurons, and connections) are studied through psychology (mind and behavior), neurogenetics (DNA and anatomy), neuroimaging (linking areas of the brain to function, like the hippocampus to memory…

A neurological condition characterized by a generalized slowness of motor activity. It is seen especially in parkinson’s disease and in lewy body dementia. Extreme slowness of movement. A condition in which the someone walks slowly and makes slow movements because of disease. Abnormal slowness of voluntary movement and speech. Bradykinesia may occur as a side…

A relatively common birth defect syndrome with multiple malformations and intellectual disability of unknown origin. Symptoms exhibited by affected individuals also include hyperactivity, self-injurious behavior, aggression, sleep disturbance, and “autistic-like” behaviors (e.g., diminished social relatedness, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors).  

A culture-specific syndrome observed in West Africa and haiti. This french term refers to a sudden outburst of agitated and aggressive behavior, marked confusion, and psychomotor excitement. It may sometimes be accompanied by visual and auditory hallucinations or paranoid ideation. These episodes may resemble an episode of brief psychotic disorder.  

As conceptualized by otto kernberg (1928–), a primitive character structure represented by a fluid and labile sense of identity; desperate fear of isolation and aloneness, along with chaotic intimate relationships in which the other is both intensely needed and experienced as toxic and rejecting; and the use of archaic defenses of splitting and projective identification.…