Overview of Functional Disorders Functional disorder is a disorder of the function of the patient without a neurologic cause. The etiology is in the mind of the patient, usually subconsciously but sometimes with conscious intent. Conversion disorder is considered to…
Movement disorders are impairments of movement not due to corticospinal tract dysfunction, although some movement disorders can be associated with corticospinal findings as a component (e.g., multiple system atrophy; MSA). Movement disorders may involve increased (hyperkinetic) or decreased (hypokinetic) movement.…
The diagnosis of headache depends on the report of head pain and on a specific classification of the headache depending on details of the history and examination. Headache is classified as primary or secondary. Principles The brain itself has no…
Introduction Stroke is the most common serious neurologic disorder, the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and second in the world, and the most common cause of neurologic disability in adults. Over 800,000 strokes occur each year…
Introduction Speech and language are important to our human existence, and they affect our ability to communicate with other people. Speech involves the articulation of language sounds via the vocal apparatus. Language involves the manipulation of symbols in the production…
The disorders of mental status include focal syndromes, such as aphasia, apraxia, agnosia, and neglect, followed by more diffuse syndromes, such as delirium and dementia. The aphasias are discussed in Chapter 5.2 . Apraxia: Neurology of Learned Movement Apraxia is…
Physiology and Localization of Gait The bipedal gait is complex and depends on action of almost all parts of the nervous system. Gait is initiated in different ways depending on the purpose of the movement, whether intentional or reflexive. Gait…
Cranial nerves are discussed elsewhere in this text. This chapter identifies some other commonly seen syndromes involving the brainstem and cranial nerves. Lesions affecting one cranial nerve solely or predominantly are discussed under the respective nerve; brainstem lesions producing cranial…
As in every aspect of the neurologic examination, the mental status examination can help to localize a lesion in the nervous system. It can also provide crucial information about the extent and severity of the patient’s deficits. The most important…
The uniqueness of the human brain derives from the higher mental functions, such as reasoning, memory, language, speech, calculations, praxis, recognition of objects (gnosis), and the asymmetrical organization of these functions in the cerebral hemispheres. Cerebral dominance, or the specialization…