Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

Bell's palsy
A weakness or paralysis of the muscles that control expression on one side of the face because of damage to a facial nerve.

Spina bifida
Is a condition that often has disabling consequences. With severe spina bifida, a person’s legs and feet are paralyzed, and there are problems with bowel and bladder control. Learning disabilities are common, and mental retardation sometimes occurs

NBDPS
National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Muenke syndrome
The primary feature of this disease is prematurely fused skull bones along the coronal suture, the growth line which goes over the head from ear to ear. This can result in an abnormally shaped head, wide-set eyes, and flattened cheekbones.

Parkinson's disease
A progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the part of the brain that helps control muscle movement.

Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration
Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (formerly called Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome) is a disorder of the nervous system. The condition is characterized by progressive difficulty with movement and speech

Eye Birth Defect
Anophthalmia/microphthalmia, congenital cataracts, glaucoma

stroke
A condition produced by a blood clot that lodges in an artery and blocks the flow of blood to a portion of the brain, producing symptoms ranging from paralysis of limbs and loss of speech to unconsciousness and death. Less commonly, a stroke may be the result of bleeding into the substance of the brain.

cerebellum
The portion of the brain mainly responsible for balance and coordination.

brain plasticity
Theories based on the idea that the brain may have the ability to use surviving brain cells in a different way to make up for those brain cells that are damaged.