PHS 4300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Positron Emission Tomography, Basal Ganglia, Upper Motor Neuron

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Physiology
• Course: PHS 4300
• Professor: Frank Feiner

Document Summary

Mental status exam: observed passively, notice cortical functioning, psychiatric aspects. Level of consciousness, attention, understanding, speech, comprehension. Cranial nerves: smell, visual fields and reflexes, somatosensation, hearing, taste, mechanical reflexes, vocal cords. Motor function: speed and strength of movement, tone, bulk, coordination, tremor or fasciculation (twitch) Sensory function: subjective to the patient. Gait, stance, and posture: romberg test, tandem walk (heel to toe) Clinician must have working knowledge of anatomy, neurophysiology, pathologic anatomy and physiology, and genetics to come to an accurate conclusion. Studying the time course of the patient may give clues to the mechanism of dysfunction: helps with a prognosis too. Lumbar puncture for csf: crucial for inflammatory and infectious conditions. X ray for fractures of the skull and lesions to the spinal cord: may miss smaller ones. Computed tomography: precise size and position of larger brain structures, hemorrhage, edema, abscess, tumor. Magnetic resonance imaging: non-ionizing energy, highest resolution and improved contrast.