Birth Trauma Glossary F - O
birth trauma terms:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V
Figure-Ground - The differentiation between the foreground and the background of a scene; this refers to all sensory systems, including vision, hearing, touch.
Flaccid - Lacking normal muscle tone; limp.
Flexion - Bending a joint.
Frontal Lobe - Front part of the brain; involved in planning, organizing, problem solving, selective attention, personality and a variety of "higher cognitive functions."
Frustration Tolerance - The ability to persist in completing a task despite apparent difficulty. Individuals with a poor frustration tolerance will often refuse to complete tasks which are the least bit difficult. Angry behavior, such as yelling or throwing things while attempting a task is also indicative of poor frustration tolerance.
Gainful Occupation - Includes employment in the competitive labor market, practice of a profession, farm or family work (including work for which payment is "in kind" rather than in cash), sheltered employment, work activity (to the extent that there is net pay), and home industries or other home-bound work.
Gait Training - Instruction in walking, with or without equipment; also called "ambulation training."
GI Tube - A tube inserted through a surgical opening into the stomach. It is used to introduce liquids, food, or medication into the stomach when the patient is unable to take these substances by mouth.
Glasgow Coma Scale - A standardized system used to assess the degree of brain impairment and to identify the seriousness of injury in relation to outcome. The system involves three determinants: eye opening, verbal responses and motor response all of which are evaluated independently according to a numerical value that indicates the level of consciousness and degree of dysfunction. Scores run from a high of 15 to a low of 3. Persons are considered to have experienced a `mild' brain injury when their score is 13 to 15. A score of 9 to 12 is considered to reflect a `moderate' brain injury and a score of 8 or less reflects a 'severe' brain injury.
Head Injury - Refers to an injury of the head and/or brain, including lacerations and contusions of the head, scalp and/or forehead. See Brain Injury.
Hematoma - The collection of blood in tissues or a space following rupture of a blood vessel. Regarding Brain:
- Epidural--Outside the brain and its fibrous covering, the dura, but under the skull.
- Subdural--Between the brain and its fibrous covering (dura).
- Intracerebral--In the brain tissue.
- Subarachnoid--Around the surfaces of the brain, between the dura and arachnoid membranes.
Hemianopsia Hemianopia - Visual field cut. Blindness for one half of the field of vision. This is not the right or left eye, but the right or left half of vision in each eye.
Hemiparesis - Weakness of one side of the body.
Hydrocephalus - Enlargement of fluid-filled cavities in the brain, not due to brain atrophy.
Hypoxia - Insufficient oxygen reaching the tissues of the body.
Impulse Control - Refers to the individual's ability to withhold inappropriate verbal or motor responses while completing a task. Persons who act or speak without first considering the consequences are viewed as having poor impulse control.
Incontinent - Inability to control bowel and bladder functions. Many people who are incontinent can become continent with training.
Independent Living - Community-based to maximize a person's ability to be empowered and self-directed; allows an individual to live in one's own home with maximum personal control over how services are delivered, combined with the opportunity to work as appropriate.
Initiative - Refers to the individual's ability to begin a series of behaviors directed toward a goal.
Interdisciplinary Approach - A method of diagnosis, evaluation, and individual program planning in which two or more specialists, such as medical doctors, psychologists, recreational therapists, social workers, etc., participate as a team, contributing their skills, competencies, insights, and perspectives to focus on identifying the developmental needs of the person with a disability and on devising ways to meet those needs.
Intracranial Pressure (ICP) - Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure measured from a needle or bolt introduced into the CSF space surrounding the brain. It reflects the pressure inside of the skull.
Jargon - Spoken language that has a normal rate and rhythm but is full of nonsense words.
Job Analysis - Involves the systematic study of an occupation in terms of what the worker does in relation to data, people, and things; the methods and techniques employed, the machines, tools, equipment, and work aids used; the materials, products, subject matter or services which result, and the traits required of the worker.
Kinesthesia - The sensory awareness of body parts as they move (see Position Sense and Proprioception).
Lability - State of having notable shifts in emotional state (e.g., uncontrolled laughing or crying).
Leg Bag - A small, thick plastic bag that can be tied to the leg and collects urine. It is connected by tubing to a catheter inserted into the urinary bladder.
Lifelong Living - For persons discharged from rehabilitation who need ongoing lifetime supports; located in residential or skilled nursing environment; structured activities available on individual and group basis.
Limbic System - a group of brain structures, including the hippocampus, amygdala, dentate gyrus, cingulate gyrus, gyrus fornicatus, the archicortex, and their interconnections and connections with the hypothalamus, septal area, and a medial area of the mesencephalic tegmentum. The system is activated by motivated behavior and arousal, and it influences the endocrine and autonomic motor systems.
Locked-in Syndrome - A condition resulting from interruption of motor pathways in the ventral pons, usually by infarction. This disconnection of the motor cells in the lower brain stem and spinal cord from controlling signals issued by the brain leaves the patient completely paralyzed and mute, but able to receive and understand sensory stimuli; communication may be possible by code using blinking, or movements of the jaw or eyes, which can be spared.
LSD - Lysergic Acid Diethylamide A derivative of an alkaloid in ergot. LSD is used legally only for experimental purposes. It is used illegally for its hallucinogenic effects.
Malingering - To pretend inability so as to avoid duty or work.
Memory, Episodic - Memory for ongoing events in a person's life. More easily impaired than semantic memory, perhaps because rehearsal or repetition tends to be minimal.
Memory, Immediate - The ability to recall numbers, pictures, or words immediately following presentation. Patients with immediate memory problems have difficulty learning new tasks because they cannot remember instructions. Relies upon concentration and attention.
Memory, Long Term - In neuropsychological testing, this refers to recall thirty minutes or longer after presentation. Requires storage and retrieval of information which exceeds the limit of short term memory.
Memory, Short Term - Primary or 'working' memory; its contents are in conscious awareness. A limited capacity system that holds up to seven chunks of information over periods of 30 seconds to several minutes, depending upon the person's attention to the task.
Money Management - Ability to distinguish the different denominations of money, count money, make change, budget.
Motor Control - Regulation of the timing and amount of contraction of muscles of the body to produce smooth and coordinated movement. The regulation is carried out by operation of the nervous system.
Motor Planning - Action formulated in the mind before attempting to perform.
Muscle Tone - Used in clinical practice to describe the resistance of a muscle to being stretched. When the peripheral nerve to a muscle is severed, the muscle becomes flaccid (limp). When nerve fibers in the brain or spinal cord are damaged, the balance between facilitation and inhibition of muscle tone is disturbed. The tone of some muscles may become increased and they resist being stretched--a condition called hypertonicity or spasticity.
Neglect - Paying little or no attention to a part of the body.
Neologism - Nonsense or made-up word used when speaking. The person often does not realize that the word makes no sense.
Neurologist - A physician who specializes in the nervous system and its disorders.
Neuron - the fundamental cellular unit of the nervous system, consisting of a nucleus with all its processes and extensions. Neurons function in initiation and conduction of impulses. In addition, the brain cells influence cells by secreting neurotransmitters that function to alter the affected cell by actually physically contacting it. Alternatively, a neuron may release neurohormones into the bloodstream.
Neuropsychologist - A psychologist who specializes in evaluating (by tests) brain/behavior relationships, planning training programs to help the survivor of brain injury return to normal functioning and recommending alternative cognitive and behavioral strategies to minimize the effects of brain injury. Often works closely with schools and employers as well as with family members of the injured person.
Neurotransmitter - substance that is released when the axon terminal of a presynaptic neuron is excited. The substance then travels across the synapse to act on the target cell to either inhibit or excite it. Disorders in the brain physiology of neurotransmitters have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of psychiatric illnesses.
Non-ambulatory - Not able to walk.
Norepinephrine - a hormone produced by the adrenal medulla, similar in chemical and pharmacological properties to epinephrine (also a hormone secreted by the adrenal medulla in response to stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system). Norephinephrine and epinephrine are the two active hormones that cause some of the physiological expressions of fear and anxiety and have been found to be in excess in some anxiety disorders when a disturbance in their metabolism occurs.
Nystagmus - Involuntary horizontal, vertical, or rotary movement of the eyeballs.
Occipital Lobe - Region in the back of the brain which processes visual information. Damage to this lobe can cause visual deficits.
Occupational Therapy - Occupational Therapy is the therapeutic use of self-care, work and play activities to increase independent function, enhance development and prevent disability; may include the adaptation of a task or the environment to achieve maximum independence and to enhance the quality of life. The term occupation, as used in occupational therapy, refers to any activity engaged in for evaluating, specifying and treating problems interfering with functional performance.
Orientation - Awareness of one's environment and/or situation, along with the ability to use this information appropriately in a functional setting. See Disorientation
Orthopedics - The branch of medicine devoted to the study and treatment of the skeletal system, its joints, muscles and associated structures.
Orthosis - Splint or brace designed to improve function or provide stability.
Outpatient - The patient residing outside the hospital but returning on a regular basis for one or more therapeutic services.
Oxytocin - A pituitary hormone that stimulates muscle contraction and sensitizes nerves. Dopamine stimulates the production of oxytocin. Fewer oxytocin receptors create less attachment in relationships.
