Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

acetylcholine (ACH)
A chemical in the body that carries messages between the nerves and muscles; a neurotransmitter.

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.

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.

Jackson-Weiss syndrome
Many of the characteristic facial features of Jackson-Weiss syndrome result from the premature fusion of the skull bones. The head is unable to grow normally, which can lead to a misshapen skull, widely spaced eyes, and a bulging forehead. Foot abnormalities are the most consistent characteristic, as not all individuals with Jackson-Weiss syndrome have abnormal skull or facial features.

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.

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

Genitourinary Birth Defect
Renal agenesis (bilateral), hypospadias (2nd or 3rd degree)

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

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.

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.