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| Glossary of Terms |
Acetazolamide - also known as Diamox; medicine used to lower elevated ICP
Acute - Having rapid onset, severe symptoms, and a short course; not chronic.
Afferent Pathways - nerve paths that carry signals from the periphery - like the hand - to the spinal
cord and brain
Allodynia - pain in response to something that should not cause pain, like a light touch
Amyotrophic - Muscle wasting.
Antimetic - drug used to control nausea and vomiting
Apnea - Cessation of breathing noted by color changes, pallor and/or cyanosis, and lack of chest wall movement.
To stop breathing intermittently, may be due to compression on the brainstem. Central sleep apnea is due to a delay in the nerve signal
from the brain to breathe .Obstructive sleep apnea is due to an obstruction in the throat
Arachnoid - the middle of the three membranes covering the brain, appears to resemble a spider web. There are
3 layers of covering of the brain and spinal cord- the pia, arachnoid and dura.
Arachnoiditis - inflammation of the arachnoid
Aseptic Meningitis - Inflammation of the membranes (meninges) that cover the brain and spinal cord. NOT an
infection.
Aspirate - the inhalation of fluids into the lungs. (Inability to swallow properly can allow this to occur.)
Ataxia - inability to coordinate muscles in voluntary movement movement. Stumbling when walking, or inability to maintain a fluid
gait when asked to walk a straight line.
Atrophic - changes in the muscle that create an appearance of being wasted away
Atrophy - Wasting away of the muscle, often due to lack of use or inability to exercise a muscle.
Atypical - Not typical
Autologous - derived, or taken, from a person's own body ( as some of the material used in duragrafts)
Basilar Invagination - condition, sometimes associated with Chiari, where the C2 vertebra is displaced upward,
potentially compressing the brainstem
Brainstem - the lowest part of the brain connecting with the spinal cord and controlling automatic functions
such as breathing and swallowing
Catheter - small, soft plastic tube used to drain fluid. A Foley catheter is often inserted into the bladder
for surgery. A shunt catheter can be inserted into a syrinx or the ventricles of the brain.
Caudal - towards the tail, in the case of CSF flow, from the skull to the spine
Central Canal - center of the spinal cord, so named because it starts as a hollow tube which closes in most
people as they age
Central Nervous System (CNS) - The part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord which
coordinates the entire nervous system of the body.
Cerebellar Cortex - The outer layer of the cerebellum
Cerebellar Speech - Abnormal speech patterns seen in people who have a disease of the cerebellum; a slow,
jerky, and slurred speech that may come and go or it may be unvaried in pitch.
Cerebellar Tonsils - Two bulges at the bottom of the cerebellum, named tonsils because of their shape.
Cerebellomedullary - Refers to the area where the cerebellum and the medulla are in the brainstem
Cerebellum - Lower portion of the brain, that lies in the posterior fossa, and is responsible for coordination of skeletal muscle
movement.
Cerebral Aqueduct - A narrow conduit (tube), between the third and the fourth ventricles; located in the midbrain. CSF moves from
the third ventricle through the cerebral aqueduct to the fourth ventricle.
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