Chapter+26


 * Glossary Terms for chapter 26**

[|**intervertebral disk**] ** The cushion that lies between two vertebrae. ** [|**raccoon eyes**] ** Bruising under the eyes that may indicate skull fracture. ** [|**somatic (voluntary) nervous system**] ** The part of the nervous system that regulates our voluntary activities, such as walking, talking, and writing. **
 * [|anterograde (posttraumatic) amnesia] **Inability to remember events after an injury.
 * [|autonomic (involuntary) nervous system] The part of the nervous system that regulates functions that are not controlled by conscious will, such as digestion and sweating. **
 * [|axon] **The long process of a neuron.
 * [|Battle's sign] Bruising behind an ear over the mastoid process that may indicate skull fracture. **
 * [|blunt injury] **Injury to the head in which the brain has been injured but the skin is unbroken.
 * [|brain stem] **The part of the central nervous system that controls virtually all functions that are necessary for life, including the cardiac and respiratory systems.
 * [|central nervous system (CNS)] **The brain and spinal cord.
 * [|cerebellum] One of the three major subdivisions of the brain, sometimes called the "little brain"; coordinates the various activities of the brain, particularly body movements. **
 * [|cerebral edema] Swelling of the brain. **
 * [|cerebrum] The largest part of the three subdivisions of the brain, sometimes called the "gray matter"; made up of several lobes that control movement, hearing, balance, speech, visual perception, emotions, and personality. **
 * [|concussion] A temporary loss or alteration of part or all of the brain's abilities to function without actual physical damage to the brain. **
 * [|connecting nerves] **Nerves in the brain and spinal cord that connect the motor and sensory nerves
 * [|distracted] The action of pulling the spine along its length. **
 * [|eyes-forward position] A head position in which the patient's eyes are looking straight ahead and the head and torso are in line. **
 * [|four-person log roll] The recommended procedure for moving a patient with a suspected spinal injury from the ground to a long spine board **
 * [|Glasgow Coma Scale] **A method of assessing a patient's level of consciousness by scoring the patient's response to eye opening, motor response, and verbal response.
 * [|involuntary activities] The actions that we do not consciously control. **
 * [|meninges] Three distinct layers of tissue that surround and protect the brain and the spinal cord within the skull and the spinal canal. **
 * [|motor nerves] Nerves that carry information from the central nervous system to the muscles. **
 * [|open head injury] **Injury to the head in which a penetrating object has caused scalp lacerations, contusions, hematomas, and obvious skull deformities.
 * [|peripheral nervous system] The part of the nervous system that consists of 31 pairs of spinal nerves and 12 pairs of cranial nerves. These peripheral nerves may be sensory nerves, motor nerves, or connecting nerves. **
 * [|retrograde amnesia] The inability to remember events leading up to a brain injury. **
 * [|sensory nerves] **Nerves that transmit sensory input, such as touch, taste, heat, cold, and pain, from the body to the central nervous system.
 * [|voluntary activity] **Actions that we consciously perform, in which sensory input determines the specific muscular activity.