Jargon Buster

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• ACCELERATION/DECELERATION This describes the mechanism of injury, usually sustained as a result of a road traffic collision.  The sudden change of speed forces the brain forwards and then backwards against the wall of the skull, causing damage to the frontal lobes and back of the brain. 
• AMNESIA The inability to remember things.  This could be partial or complete.  See anterograde and retrograde amnesia. 
• ANEURISM Swelling or dilation of an artery due to a weakened wall.  Giving a balloon like impression. 
• ANOSMIA Loss of sense of smell.
• ANOXIA An absence of oxygen supply to the cells.  The oxygen supply to the cells, tissues or organs is interrupted/blocked.
• ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA Impaired memory of events that happened after the brain injury. 
• APATHY lacking interest or energy; unwilling to take action especially over a matter of importance.  A direct result of brain injury to frontal lobe structures which concern emotion, motivation and forward planning.   
• APHASIA/DYSPHASIA Aphasia and dysphasia are disorders caused by damage to the parts of the brain that control language. It can make it hard for you to read, write and say what you mean to say. The type of problem and degree of severity depends on which part of your brain is damaged and how much damage there is.
  
  Depending on which book you are reading the terms are interchangeable however officially in UK medical terminology disorders starting with dys mean ‘difficulty with’ and the same disorder starting with A means ‘absence or complete loss of’
  
  There are four main types:
  • Expressive dysphasia – you know what you want to say, but you have trouble saying or writing what you mean
  • Receptive dysphasia – you hear the voice or see the print, but you can’t make sense of the words
  • Anomic dysphasia – you have trouble using the correct word for objects, places or events
  • Global aphasia – you can’t speak, understand speech, read or write
  • Some people recover from aphasia/dysphasia without treatment. Most, however, need language therapy as soon as possible.
• APRAXIA Apraxia is being unable to perform tasks or movements you've already learned, even though your muscles and senses work properly. There are many different forms of apraxia. Some are listed below:
  • Buccofacial or orofacial apraxia. You are unable to carry out movements of the face on demand. For example, you may not be able to lick your lips or whistle.
  • Ideational apraxia. You can no longer carry out learned complex tasks in the proper order, such as putting on socks before putting on shoes.
  • Ideomotor apraxia. You can no longer voluntarily perform a learned task when given the necessary objects. For instance, if given a screwdriver, you may try to write with it as if it were a pen. Or, you might try to comb your hair with a toothbrush.
  • Limb-kinetic apraxia. You are unable to make precise movements with an arm or leg
  • Verbal apraxia. You are unable to co-ordinate mouth movements and speech.
• ARACHNOID The middle of the three layers of membranes (meninges) surrounding the brain within the skull.  The other two layers are the Dura and the Pia. 

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