TBI GLOSSARY

TBI Terminology

A

• Agnosia: Failure to recognize familiar objects despite intact sensory mechanisms. Can affect any sensory modality (visual, auditory, etc.).

• Alexia: Inability to read.

• Aneurysm: A balloon-like deformity in the wall of a blood vessel that can weaken and burst, leading to a hemorrhage.

• Anomia: Difficulty recalling the names of objects. Individuals may use descriptive terms instead.

• Anosmia: Loss of the sense of smell.

• Anoxia: Absence of oxygen. Essential for brain cell survival; deficiency leads to brain damage.

• Anterograde Amnesia: Difficulty consolidating new information; impairment in learning new events.

• Anticoagulation: The process of preventing blood clot formation by slowing down normal clotting. Medications like Coumadin and Heparin are used.

• Aphasia: Loss of ability to express and/or understand language due to brain damage.

  • Aphasia, Expressive: Difficulty in formulating words despite understanding what one wants to say.

  • Aphasia, Fluent: Speech is normal in rate but lacks meaning.

  • Aphasia, Global: Severe impairment in both expressive and receptive language abilities.

  • Aphasia, Non-fluent: Slow, hesitant speech with a limited vocabulary, but relatively preserved comprehension.

  • Aphasia, Receptive: Problems with understanding spoken or written language.

• Apraxia: Difficulty performing complex or skilled movements not due to muscle weakness or sensory loss.

• Aspiration: Entry of food or liquid into the lungs through the windpipe, potentially causing infection or pneumonia.

• Ataxia: Coordination problems due to lesions in the cerebellum or basal ganglia, affecting movement, speech, and self-care.

• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): Methods like sign language, gestures, or computerized systems used to aid communication.

• Automatic Speech: Speech produced without conscious effort, such as learned phrases or exclamations.

• ADL (Activities of Daily Living): Routine tasks necessary for personal hygiene, health, and household operations.

B

• Bilateral: Pertaining to both sides (right and left).

• Biofeedback: Technique providing real-time information on physiological functions (e.g., heart rate) to help individuals gain control over these processes.

• Brain Injury, Acquired: Brain impairment occurring after normal development, due to injury or illness.

• Brain Injury, Closed: Damage from acceleration-deceleration forces or impacts without a foreign object penetrating the brain.

• Brain Injury, Mild: Characterized by short loss of consciousness, confusion, or focal neurological deficits with Glasgow Coma Scale score of 13-15.

• Brain Injury, Moderate: Glasgow Coma Scale score of 9-12 in the first 24 hours post-injury.

• Brain Injury, Penetrating: Injury where an object breaches the skull and damages localized brain tissue.

• Brain Injury, Severe: Coma lasting 6 hours or more or Glasgow Coma Scale score of 8 or less in the first 24 hours.

• Brain Injury, Traumatic: Damage caused by external mechanical force, usually with altered consciousness.

• Brain Plasticity: The brain's ability to adapt by having intact cells take over the functions of damaged cells.

• Brain Stem: The brain's lower extension connected to the spinal cord, responsible for survival functions like breathing and heart rate.

C

• Cerebellum: The brain part at the back involved in coordinating movement; damage may cause ataxia.

• Cerebral-spinal Fluid (CSF): Fluid filling the brain's ventricles and surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

• Cognition: The process of knowing, understanding, and reasoning.

• Cognitive Impairment: Difficulties with perception, memory, attention, and reasoning.

• Cognitive Rehabilitation: Therapy to manage problems in thinking and problem-solving, with strategies for improving or compensating for deficits.

• Concrete Thinking: Literal thinking without generalizing or abstract reasoning.

• Concussion: A temporary altered mental state due to a blow to the head or sudden deceleration, potentially causing nerve cell disruption.

• Confabulation: Fabricated or distorted memories or accounts presented with confidence.

• Continent: Ability to control urination and bowel movements.

• Contracture: Loss of joint range of motion due to tissue shortening.

• Contralateral: Pertaining to the opposite side of the body.

• Control of Attention: Ability to focus and direct attention on relevant aspects of a situation.

• Contusion, Brain: A bruise on the brain resulting from a head injury.

• Convergence: The inward movement of the eyes to focus on a near object.

• Cortical Blindness: Vision loss from damage to the primary visual cortex, with preserved light reflex.

D

• Decubitus: Skin breakdown or pressure sore from prolonged pressure, common on areas like buttocks and heels.

• Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT): Blood clot in a deep vein, often in the calf or thigh.

• Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI): Shearing injury of large nerve fibers throughout the brain.

• Diplopia: Double vision where a single object appears as two images.

• Disinhibition: Inability to control impulsive behavior and emotions.

• Disorientation: Confusion about one’s identity, location, or the date.

• Dysarthria: Difficulty in speech articulation due to muscle weakness or disrupted neuromotor control.

• Dysphagia: Difficulty in swallowing due to problems in oral preparation or food transport.

E

• Echolalia: Repetition of sounds or words without comprehension, abnormal in adults.

• Emotional Lability: Rapid, extreme emotional shifts without clear cause.

• Endotracheal Tube: Tube inserted into the airway to assist breathing; prevents speech while in place.

• Executive Functions: Higher-level cognitive processes like planning, sequencing, and self-monitoring.

F

• Flaccid: Lacking normal muscle tone; limp.

• Frontal Lobe: Brain area involved in higher cognitive functions like planning and personality.

G

• GI Tube: Tube inserted into the stomach for feeding when oral intake is not possible, also known as PEG Tube.

• Glasgow Coma Scale: Assessment tool for brain injury severity based on eye, verbal, and motor responses.

H

• Handicap: External barriers or conditions that limit role fulfillment; not synonymous with disability.

• Hemianopsia: Loss of vision in one half of the visual field.

• Hemiplegia: Paralysis of one side of the body.

• Hemiparesis: Weakness on one side of the body.

• Hemorrhage: Bleeding from damaged blood vessels in the brain.

• Hydrocephalus: Enlargement of brain ventricles due to fluid accumulation.

• Hypoxia: Insufficient oxygen reaching body tissues.

I

• Impulse Control: Ability to refrain from inappropriate responses or actions.

• Incontinent: Inability to control bowel and bladder functions.

• Initiative: Ability to start and direct behavior towards a goal.

• Insight Regarding Impairment: Understanding one’s own strengths and limitations, also known as metacognition.

• Ischemia: Severe reduction in blood supply to tissues.

J

• Jargon: Language with normal rhythm but filled with nonsensical words.

L

• Lability: Notable fluctuations in emotional state.

M

• Malingering: Pretending to be unable to avoid duty or work.

• Memory: The process of organizing, storing, and recalling information.

  • Memory, Audio-Visual: Recall of auditory or visual information.

  • Memory, Delayed: Recall of information after a significant delay.

  • Memory, Episodic: Memory of personal life events.

  • Memory, Fund of Information: Knowledge retained about past experiences.

  • Memory, Immediate: Recall of information right after presentation.

  • Memory, Learning: Acquisition of new information through experience.

  • Memory, Long Term: Recall of information stored for extended periods.

  • Memory, Recall: Retrieving information without cues.

  • Memory, Recognition: Retrieving information with a cue.

  • Memory, Remote: Recall of information from before the brain injury.

  • Memory, Semantic: Memory for facts learned through repetition.

  • Memory, Short Term: Temporary storage of information in conscious awareness.

• Mental Competence: Having the mental ability to manage personal affairs; legal competence.

• Muscle Tone: The resistance of muscles to stretch, affected by nerve damage.

N

• Nystagmus: Involuntary eye movements, either horizontal, vertical, or rotary.

• NPO: Abbreviation for “Nothing by Mouth,” indicating no intake of food or liquids.

P

• Paraplegia: Paralysis of the legs.

• Parietal Lobe: Brain area involved in spatial awareness and sensory processing.

  • Parietal Lobe, Right: Damage may affect spatial and visual processing.

  • Parietal Lobe, Left: Damage can impact language and numerical understanding.

• Post-traumatic Amnesia: Memory loss occurring immediately after a traumatic event, affecting recall of recent events.

• Premorbid: The state of health or function before an injury or illness.

• Prognosis: Prediction of the likely course and outcome of an injury or disease.

R

• Rehabilitation: Process of restoring lost skills and functions following injury or illness.

• Repetition: The ability to repeat words, phrases, or sentences; affected in some speech and language disorders.

• Rhinorrhea: Excessive nasal discharge or runny nose.

S

• Seizure: Abnormal electrical activity in the brain leading to varied symptoms, including convulsions.

• Speech Therapy: Treatment to improve communication abilities, including articulation, language, and fluency.

• Spasticity: Increased muscle tone resulting in stiffness and resistance to movement.

• Subdural Hematoma: Accumulation of blood between the brain and its outer covering, usually due to head trauma.

• Syncope: Fainting or temporary loss of consciousness due to reduced blood flow to the brain.

T

• TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury): Injury to the brain caused by external physical force.

• Temporal Lobe: Brain area responsible for auditory processing and memory; damage can affect these functions.

V

• Visual Field: The entire area a person can see without moving their eyes.

• Visual-Spatial Skills: The ability to perceive and understand spatial relationships between objects.