Nervous-Iii

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Medical Term	Description
accessory nerve	Either of two cranial nerves which are important for swallowing, speech and some head and shoulder movements.
adjustment disorders	Maladaptive reactions to a stressful event.
adrenergic fibers	Nerve fibers liberating catecholamines at a synapse after an impulse.
adrenergic neurons	Neurons whose primary neurotransmitter is epinephrine.
affect	The emotional reaction to an experience or thought.
agraphia	Inability to write due to a cerebral injury or less commonly, due to emotional factors.
akinetic mutism	A syndrome characterized by a silent and inert state without voluntary motor activity despite alertness.
alprazolam	A compound used to treat anxiety.
amphetamine	A powerful group of drugs that stimulate the central nervous system. Amphetamines reduce feelings of fatigue and increase alertness.
analgesics	A compound that relieves pain.
anesthesiology	A specialty concerned with the study of anesthetics and anesthesia.
anesthetics	Agents that are capable of inducing a total or partial loss of sensation, especially tactile sensation and pain. They may act generally or locally.
anhedonia	Inability to experience happiness or pleasure. It is a symptom of many psychotic disorders.
anomia	An inability to name people and objects that are correctly comprehended.
antidromic	Conducting nerve impulses in a direction opposite from normal.
antipsychotic	An agent used to control severe mental disorders.
antisocial	A personality disorder characterized by a disregard for individual rights or laws.
apraxia	Disorders characterized by the inability to make skilled, purposeful movements due to a cerebral disease.
aquaphobia	An irrational fear of water.
arachnoid	A delicate membrane covering the brain and spinal cord. It lies between the pia mater and the dura mater.
arachnoiditis	Acute or chronic inflammation of the arachnoid membrane, resulting in pain and neurological abnormalities.
astrocyte	A large, star shaped cell. Found throughout the central nervous system.
astrocytoma	A type of brain tumor.
autonomic	The ability to function without external influence.
autonomic nervous system	The part of the nervous system that regulates involuntary body functions. The enteric nervous system; parasympathetic nervous system; and sympathetic nervous system taken together.
autophagia	Biting or eating one's own flesh.
autosuggestion	Suggestion coming from the subject himself.
aversion therapy	A treatment that suppresses undesirable behavior by simultaneously exposing the subject to unpleasant consequences.
axon	Nerve fiber that conduct impulses away from the neuron cell body.
basal ganglia	Large grey masses at the base of the cerebral hemisphere.
benzocaine	A local anesthetic applied topically.
bipolar disorder	A major affective disorder marked by severe mood swings (manic or major depressive episodes) and a tendency to remission and recurrence.
bonding	The emotional attachment of mother-child or individuals to pets.
catatonia	A neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by the patient becoming mute or immobile with extreme muscular rigidity.
cauda equina	The lower part of the spinal cord consisting of the lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal nerve roots.
central nervous system	The main information-processing organs of the nervous system, consisting of the brain, spinal cord, and meninges.
cerebral edema	An abnormal accumulation of fluid in brain tissue. Brain swelling.
cerebral hemorrhage	Bleeding into one or both cerebral hemispheres.
cerebrospinal fluid	A watery fluid that is continuously produced in the choroid plexus and circulates around the surface of the brain, the spinal cord and in the cerebral ventricles.
comprehension	Understanding.
conditioning	Learning that takes place when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
depersonalization	A feeling of unreality concerning the self or the environment.
efferent pathways	The route of nerve structures carrying impulses away from a nerve center toward a peripheral site.
eidetic	Pertaining to the ability to accurately visualize events or objects from experience.
ependyma	A thin membrane that lines the cerebral ventricles and the central canal of the spinal cord.
epineurium	The sheath of a peripheral nerve.
glasgow coma scale	A scale for measuring level of consciousness, especially after craniocerebral injury
hippocampus	A curved elevation of gray matter extending the entire length of the floor of the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle (see also temporal lobe). It has a central role in memory processes.
interneurons	Groups or combinations of neurons between sensory and motor neurons that govern coordinated activity.
median nerve	A major nerve of the arm, suppling sensory and motor innervation to parts of the forearm and hand.
medulla oblongata	The lower portion of the brain stem. Medulla oblongata serves as a relay station between the brain and the spinal cord, and contains centers for regulating respiratory, vasomotor, cardiac, and reflex activities.
meninges	The three membranes that envelop the brain and the spinal cord.
meningioma	A relatively common neoplasm of the central nervous system.
merkel cells	Modified epidermal cells located in the stratum basale (the innermost layer of the epidermis). They are found mostly in areas where sensory perception is acute, such as the fingertips.
microcephaly	Abnormal smallness of the head; a congenital abnormality
neocortex	The largest portion of the cerebral cortex, the outer surface of the cerebrum, responsible for spatial reasoning, thought, language, memory and sensory perception.
neuritis	A general term indicating inflammation of a nerve, often marked by pain, numbness or tingling, or paralysis.
neurocytoma	A brain tumor of undifferentiated cells of nervous origin.
neuroretinitis	Inflammation of the optic nerve and retina.
neurotropic	Having an affinity for the nervous system or the growth of neural tissue.
obtund	To blunt or deaden pain.
phantom limb	Phantom sensations that occur following the complete or partial loss of a limb.
polyneuropathy	A disease of multiple peripheral nerves simultaneously.
pons	The front part of the hindbrain that lies between the medulla and the midbrain ventral to the cerebellum, serving as a relay station for neural pathways.
pudendal nerve	A nerve which originates in the sacral spinal cord (S2 to S4) and innervates the perineum, the external genitalia, the external anal sphincter and the external urethral sphincter. Can be damaged in childbirth.
radiculopathy	Disease involving a spinal nerve root.
reflex arc	The neural path of a reflex.
spinal stenosis	Narrowing of the spinal canal.
sural nerve	A branch of the tibial nerve which supplies sensory innervation to parts of the lower leg and foot.
tectospinal	Denoting nerve fibers passing from the mesencephalic tectum to the spinal cord.
telencephalon	The anterior subdivision of the prosencephalon which develops into the olfactory bulbs, cerebral cortex and basal ganglia.
thermoalgesia	Abnormal pain felt when part of the body is warmed.
titubation	Walking with a staggering or stumbling gait.
tourette syndrome	A neuropsychological disorder appearing in childhood, marked by multiple motor and vocal tics occurring multiple times daily over a period of more than one year.
trichotillomania	Compulsion to pull out one's hair.
trigeminal	Pertaining to the fifth cranial nerve.

Authors and Reviewers

Authored by Dr. Barbara A. Erickson
Medically reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Keroes, MD
Last Update: 12/18/2022