encephalomyelitis
Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
encephalomyocarditis
An acute viral disease characterized by inflammation and degeneration of skeletal and cardiac muscle and lesions of the central nervous system.
encephalon
1. The brain of a vertebrate.
2. That part of the central nervous system which includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord.
encephalonarcosis
(s) (noun), encephalonarcoses
(pl)
A stupor brought on by a brain disease.
encephalopathy, encephalopathia
(s) (noun); encephalopathies; encephalopathias
(pl)
A disease or disorder of the brain: An
encephalopathy is a brain disease, especially one involving alterations of brain structure.
Encephalopathy involves large parts of the brain (or the whole organ), instead of identifiable changes confined just to parts of the brain.
Learn how anxieties and depressions affect the brain.
encephalophone
An apparatus that emits a continuous hum whose pitch is changed by interference of brain waves transmitted through oscillators from electrodes attached to the scalp and that is used to diagnose abnormal brain functioning.
encephalosepsis
(s) (noun), encephalosepses
(pl)
Gangrene of brain tissue: It was a difficult task for the brain surgeon to explain to Mrs. Jones that her husband was suffering from an encephalosepsis.
encephalotome
An instrument for incising the brain.
encephalotomy
Surgical incision or dissection of the brain.
holoprosencephaly
Failure of the forebrain to divide into hemispheres or lobes causing insufficient development of facial characteristics; such as, the nose, lips, and palate; in severe cases, cyclopia can occur (a congenital defect characterized by fusion of the orbits into a single cavity containing one eye). Also called synophthalmia.
hydranencephaly
The congenital absence of the cerebral hemispheres in which the space in the cranium that they normally occupy is filled with fluid.
This is a condition in which the cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Usually the cerebellum and brainstem are formed normally.
An infant with hydranencephaly may appear normal at birth. The infant's head size and spontaneous reflexes; such as, sucking, swallowing, crying, and moving the arms and legs may all seem normal; however, after a few weeks the child usually becomes irritable and has increased muscle tone (hypertonia or increased rigidity, tension, and spasticity of the muscles).
After several months of life, seizures and hydrocephalus may develop. Other symptoms may include visual impairment, lack of growth, deafness, blindness, spastic quadriparesis (paralysis), and intellectual deficits.
iniencephaly
A rare neural tube defect that combines extreme retroflexion (backward bending) of the head with severe defects of the spine. The affected infant tends to be short, with a disproportionately large head.
lissencephalia, lissencephalic, lissencephaly
1. Lack of convolutional patterns in the cerebral cortex due to some defect of development; also known as agyria [a-, "no" plus gyros, "circle"].
2. A rare brain formation disorder characterized by microcephaly and the lack of normal convolutions (folds) in the brain. It is caused by defective neuronal migration, the process in which nerve cells move from their place of origin to their permanent location.
megalencephaly
A condition in which there is an abnormally large, heavy, and usually malfunctioning brain. By definition, the brain weight is greater than average for the age and sex of the infant or child. Head enlargement may be evident at birth or the head may become abnormally large in the early years of life; also called macrencephaly.
meningoencephalitis
Inflammation of both the brain and meninges.
