Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

NBDPS
National Birth Defects Prevention Study

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

Spina bifida
Is a condition that often has disabling consequences. With severe spina bifida, a person’s legs and feet are paralyzed, and there are problems with bowel and bladder control. Learning disabilities are common, and mental retardation sometimes occurs

brain tumor
An abnormal growth of tissue in the brain

NBDPN
National Birth Defects Prevention Network

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.

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.

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

vascular dementia
A common form of dementia that results either from narrowing and blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the brain or by strokes that cause an interruption of blood flow within the brain.

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS causes degeneration of the nerve cells in certain regions of the brain and spinal cord that control the muscles.