Anatomy
Two parts of the CNS
brain, cord
If infarcted, this lobe produces visual field deficits
occipital
Nystagmus
III, IV, VI
This is how to grade a limb moving without gravity
2
0. no movement 1. tendon twitch 2. w/o gravity
3. w/ gravity 4. w/ resistance, weak 5. fully resist
Name one neurological red flag in pregnancy
headache, hyperreflexia
Two parts of the autonomic nervous system
sympathetic fight or flight; parasympathetic rest and digest
If this area infarcts, you may note poor tandem gait or clumsy finger-to-nose
cerebellum
cerebellum vs motor
S: L facial numbness
M: L jaw weakness/masseter atrophy
V
These are two of the four hallmark signs of Parkinson's
bradykinesia, tremor, stiffness/rigidity, impaired gait/balance
Name 2 physiologic findings in geriatric neuro exam
1+ BLE reflexes; slower motor response; vibration distally; loss of muscle bulk, tone, strength; slower pupillary reflexes; reduced smell, vision, hearing
This is the term for the cutaneous pathway or pattern of a nerve
dermatome.
If infarcted, this lobe will produce emotional lability, motor weakness, expressive aphasia
frontal. And don't forget pre-frontal
compare Wernicke's to Broca's
M: weakness to R eyebrow, lid, NL fold, mouth
S: inability to taste or produce tears
VII
Name one of the two assessments to perform if meningitis is suspected
Brudzinski's and Kernig's
The age to deem positive Babinski physiologic vs pathologic
2-2.5 yrs
This connects the cord to the brain, and the location of autonomic functions like the respiratory center
brain stem
If this lobe infarcted, a person may sustain burns from hot water
parietal
Critical thinking: why? because they cannot sense, sensation comes from the parietal lobe, hence the burns
M: hoarseness, asymmetric palate rise
S: inability to distinguish taste to posterior tongue
IX, X
List two ways to assess coordination
FTN, Romberg. Also HKS, RAM. Gait
This chronic dx may affect sensation and reflexes (not stroke)
DMII. Also alcoholism, B12 deficiency
The location of Wernicke's area
Temporal lobe.
wernicke's aphasia is a comprehension and retrieval problem so fluid, but non sensical speech results and pt is unaware
If infarcted, a patient would respond to questions with fluid but nonsensical speech
temporal
Wernicke's aphasia. Also "senses" in the context of hearing, smell, etc
tongue deviates to the R with atrophy and fasciculations
XII
direction of deviation depends on where the stroke occurred- just know midline vs deviation
Four types of gait to assess
Casual, heel, toe, tandem
This is the technique to employ if unable to elicit reflexes
distraction