Dictionary

Sensation
Allodynia	A painful response to a non-noxious stimulation
Dysesthesia	Altered sensation
Paraesthesia	Spontaneous sensations occurring without stimulation
Hyperaesthesia	An exaggerated sensation
Hyperpathia	Exagerated sensation to a painful stimulus
Hypaesthesia	Decrease in sensation
Movement disorder
Athetosis	Inability to sustain a body part in one position. Maintained posture is interrupted by a relatively slow, sinuous, purposeless movements which flow from one into another. Slower than chorea. Greek – “unfixed” or “changeable” E.g.
Choreoathetosis	Irregular, non-patterned, involuntary/spontaneous movement Random in distribution From ancient Greek – “Dance”
Ballismus	More proximal and large amplitude form or chorea. Usually poorly patterned flinging movement of an entire limb. Derivation – “”Balistic” which is from Greek “To throw”
Myoclonus
Dystonia	Involuntary muscle spasm leading to abnormal postures. Usually mobile – leading to a writhing movement
Dyskinesia	Ambiguous term – most appropriately means any disorder of movement. Used to specifically describe the excessive movements in patients treated with levodopa. Also used in context of “tardive dyskinesia”
Tardive dyskinesia	Movement disorder occurring after a delayed onas a direct con Latin: Tardive = late
Hypokinesia	A disinclination to use an affected part of the body, a poverty of movement. Lack of amount of movement. Strength is preserved. Patterns of movement preserved (unlike apraxia) Seen in parkinsonism (e.g. hypomimia) Akinesia – complete lack of movement.
Hypomimia	Reduced degree of facial expression
Bradyphrenia	Slowness of thought.
Micrographia	Acquired disorder of writing with small cramped writing, progression to progressively smaller handwriting.
Bradykinesia	Slowness of movement/prolonged time of execution. Significant bradykinesia generally results in hypokinesia
Gegenhalten (paratonia)	Patient unable to relax a group of muscles on request.
Waxy flexibility	A limb placed in a suspended position is maintained in identical posture. A symptom of psychosis/
Cerebral anatomy
Schizencephaly
Lisencephaly
Leptomeninges
Epilepsy
Autoscopia	Viewing one’s own image, viewing onself
Pallinopsia	Visual perseverance The persistence or recurrence of visual images after the exciting stimulus has been removed
Cerebellar
Ataxia	Lack of motor co-ordination Greek: Lack of Order
Dysmetria	An error in trajectory due to impaired range, rate and force of movement (or Errors in gauging the distance, speed, power and direction of movement). Hypermetria = overshoot Hypometria = undershoot
Dyssynergia	Disturbance of coordinated movements between muscles involved in a movement
Disdiadochokinesia	Difficulty performing rapid alternating movements Greek: diadochos = succeeding, kinesis = movement
Neuro-ophthalmology
Nystagmus
Strabismus	Misalignment of the visual axes between two eyes.
Tropia	An ocular misalignment present at all times
Phoria	An ocular misalignment only present with binocularity is interrupted
Ortho-	Alignment of the visual axes (orthophoria – while viewing with one eye, orthotropia – while viewing with both eyes)
Eso-	Convergence of the visual axes
Exo-	Divergence of the visual axes
Hyper-	Vertical misalignment of the visual axes
Comitant (Concomitant) deviation	Misalignment (of the visual axis) that does not change with gaze direction (during fixation with either eye)
Incomitant deviation	Misalignment (of the visual axis) that changes with gaze direction and depends on which eye is fixating.
Square-wave jerks	A small saccade away from fixation followed by return after about 200ms
Square-wave oscillations	Same as square wave jerks, but occurring continuously and regularly (rather than sporadically)
Ocular flutter	Saccadic oscillations with no intersaccadic interval – confined to one plane, usually horizontal. High frequency, large and variable amplitude. Present at all times.
Opsoclonus	As for flutter, however all three planes involved.
Ocular bobbing	Rhythmic downward jerks, followed by slow return to mid-position (pontine, cerebellar or metabolic disease)
Ocular dipping	Slow, downward movements over 2 sec, followed by rapid return to mid-position (anoxic coma, carbon monoxide poisoning, status epilepticus, trauma)
Converse bobbing	Slow upward movements
Periodic alternating nystagmus	Right beating for 90sec then left beating for 90sec.
Gaze-evoked nystagmus	Nystagmus during lateral or upward (rarely downward) gaze. Fast phase away from primary position. Aetiology - Drugs or cerebellar disease.
Pendular nystagmus	Both phases are slow movement
Jerk Nystagmus	Nystagmus with one fast phase and one slow phase
Nystagmus	Involuntary
Oscillopsia