Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

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

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

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.

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

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.

Bell's palsy
A weakness or paralysis of the muscles that control expression on one side of the face because of damage to a facial nerve.

Muenke syndrome
The primary feature of this disease is prematurely fused skull bones along the coronal suture, the growth line which goes over the head from ear to ear. This can result in an abnormally shaped head, wide-set eyes, and flattened cheekbones.

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.

Eye Birth Defect
Anophthalmia/microphthalmia, congenital cataracts, glaucoma

cerebellum
The portion of the brain mainly responsible for balance and coordination.