Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

Musculoskeletal Birth Defect
Diaphragmatic hernia, gastroschisis, omphalocele, limb deficiency, craniosynostosis, bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy, sacral agenesis/caudal regression.

Alzheimer's disease
Severe form of dementia caused by significant deterioration of brain tissue.

brain
The part of the central nervous system inside the skull. Its functions include muscle control and coordination, sensory reception and integration, speech production, memory storage and the elaboration of thought and emotion.

Non-system-specific Birth Defect
Amniotic band sequence

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

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.

Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome
Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by skin abnormalities and the premature fusion of certain bones of the skull craniosynostosis), which prevents further growth of the skull and affects the shape of the head and face.

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.

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

Cardiovascular Birth Defect
Conotruncal heart defects, septal heart defects, obstructive heart defects, atrioventricular septal defects, single ventricle, anomalous pulmonary venous return, heterotaxy, Ebstein malformation.