Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

cerebral palsy
A disorder caused by injury to the cerebral area of the brain that occurs before or during birth or in the first few months after birth. Damage to the cerebrum may cause paralysis (palsy) in one or more parts of the body.

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS causes degeneration of the nerve cells in certain regions of the brain and spinal cord that control the muscles.

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.

Central nervous system Birth Defect
Neural tube defects, hydrocephaly, holoprosencephaly, Dandy-Walker malformation

amygdala
uh-MIG-duh-luh). A part of the brain that oversees emotions and triggers your response to danger.

closed head injury
An injury to the head or brain in which the skull remains intact.

Canavan disease
Canavan disease is an inherited disorder of the central nervous system in which affected individuals cannot break down a compound called N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid (NAA). Canavan disease is one of a group of genetic disorders called the eukodystrophies.

Guillain-Barre (ge-YAH buh-RA) syndrome
An inflammatory disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord (peripheral nerves) and, more rarely, parts of the brain itself.

hypothalamus
The part of the brain that controls body functions such as eating, sleeping and sexual behavior, maintains body temperature and chemical balance, and regulates many hormones.

Crouzon syndrome
Many of the signs of Crouzon syndrome result from the early fusion of the skull bones during childhood. Abnormal growth of these bones leads to wide-set, bulging eyes due to shallow eye sockets; eyes that do not point in the same direction (strabismus); a beaked nose; and an underdeveloped upper jaw.