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Brain Injury Glossary
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- Seizure
- An uncontrolled discharge of nerve cells which may spread to other cells nearby or throughout the entire brain. It usually lasts only a few minutes. It may be associated with loss of consciousness, loss of bowel and bladder control and tremors. May also cause aggression or other behavioral change.
- Self Awareness
- The ability to know and understand one's self.
- Self Concept
- The composite of ideas, feelings and attitudes that a person has about his own identity, worth, capabilities and limitations.
- Self Monitoring
- The ability to regulate, control and keep track of one's self.
- Sensation
- Feeling stimuli which activate sensory organs of the body, such as touch, temperature, pressure and pain. Also seeing, hearing, smelling and tasting.
- Sensorimotor
- Refers to all aspects of movement and sensation and the interaction of the two.
- Sensory Integration
- Interaction of two or more sensory processes in a manner that enhances the adaptiveness of the brain.
- Sequelae
- Residual symptoms frequently observed following recovery from a physical condition, treatment or injury.
- Sequencing
- Reading, listening, expressing thoughts, describing events or contracting muscles in an orderly and meaningful manner.
- Serotonin
- A chemical naturally occurring in the brain that helps to regulate mood. Diminished serotonin levels may cause or contribute to depression.
- Shearing
- Microscopic lesions in the brain caused when the movement of the brain within the skull puts strain on delicate nerve fibers and blood vessels causing them to stretch to the point of breaking.
- Sheltered Workshop
- A work setting certified as such by the Wage & Hour Division. It provides transitional and/or long-term employment in a controlled and protected working environment for those who are unable either to compete or to function in the open job market due to their disabilities. May provide vocational evaluation and work adjustment services.
- Shunt
- A procedure to remove excessive fluid in the brain by surgically-placing a tube that the ventricles into the abdominal cavity, heart or large veins of the neck.
- Single Positron Emission Computerized Tomography (SPECT)
- An imaging technique used to measure blood flow in the brain.
- Situational Anxiety
- A feeling of apprehension, discomfort and dread which is precipitated by a new experience, or a change of situation or events.
- Situational Depression
- An episode of emotional and psychological depression that occurs in response to a specific set of circumstances.
- Skull
- The bony structure of the head and face.
- Social Dependency
- Reliance on someone else for help and support with regard to basic human needs.
- Social Sensitivity
- Adaptability to the expectations and standards of a group or society.
- Social Isolation
- A feeling of aloneness experienced by the individual as a threatening state imposed by others; a sense of aloneness caused by the absence of family and friends; the absence of a supportive or significant personal relationship caused by the patient's unacceptable social behavior or social values, the inability to engage in social situations, immature interests, inappropriate attitudes for the developmental age of the individual, alterations in physical appearance, or mental status or illness.
- Somatosensory
- Sensory activity having its origin elsewhere than in the special sense organs (such as eyes and ears) and conveying information to the brain about the state of the body proper and its immediate environment.
- Somatosensory Cortex
- Area of the brain that processes incoming signals from the skin, muscles, and bones.
- Space Boots
- Plastic boots with worn on the feet to prevent flaccidity.
- Spasticity
- An involuntary increase in muscle tone (tension) that occurs following injury to the brain or spinal cord, causing the muscles to resist being moved. Characteristics may include increase in deep tendon reflexes, resistance to passive stretch, clasp knife phenomenon, and clonus.
- Spatial Ability
- Ability to perceive the construction of an object in both two and three dimensions. Spatial ability has four components: the ability to perceive a static figure in different positions, the ability to interpret and duplicate the movements between various parts of a figure, the ability to perceive the relationship between an object and a person's own body sphere, and the ability to interpret the person's body as an object in space.
- Speech-language Pathology Services
- A continuum of services including prevention, identification, diagnosis, consultation, and treatment of patients regarding speech, language, oral and pharyngeal sensorimotor function.
- Sphincteronomy
- The cutting of the bladder sphincter muscle to eliminate spasticity and related voiding problems. A non-surgical sphincterotomy uses a chemical block to inactivate transmitter-release between sphincter nerve and muscle, gradually stopping contractions; it is also reversible.
- Spinal Shock
- Similar to a concussion in the brain, spinal shock causes the system shuts down. In spinal cord injury, shock causes immediate flaccid paralysis, which lasts about three or four weeks. Improvement then occurs to a great extent, due to several possibilities: restoration of blood flow; synaptic reconnection; restoration of myelin integrity and axonal connection.
- Spontaneous Recovery
- The recovery which occurs as damage to body tissues heals. This type of recovery occurs with or without rehabilitation and it is very difficult to know how much improvement is spontaneous and how much is due to rehabilitative interventions. However, when the recovery is guided by an experienced rehabilitation team, complications can be anticipated and minimized; the return of function can be channeled in useful directions and in progressive steps so that the eventual outcome is the best that is possible.
- Stimulus
- An internal or external event which generates nervous system activity or response.
- Subacute Care
- May follow a period of acute rehabilitation; not necessarily hospital based; typical length of rehabilitation stay 6-24 months (short to intermediate term); stay based on demonstrated improvement; identifiable team and program with specialized unit.
- Subcortical
- The region beneath the cerbral cortex.
- Subdural
- Beneath the dura, a tough membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord.
- Subluxation
- Complete or partial dislocation of a joint.
- Substance P
- A protein that stimulates nerve endings at the site of an injury, enhancing the awareness of pain.
- Supervised Living
- Setting is a home which is like other homes in the neighborhood in terms of size and number of residents. Consumers are provided individualized care, supervision, support and training services to maximize and/or maintain function and self-direction. Staff is present at night and other times when the consumer is present.
- Supine
- Lying on one's back.
- Supported Independent Living
- Setting is a home chosen by the consumer who is primarily independent. Program offers support to assist the resident in maximizing and/or maintaining independence and self-direction. Staff is available as needed and at planned intervals to offer assistance and support but not to provide supervision.
- Suppository
- Medicine contained in a capsule which is inserted into the rectum so that the medicine can be absorbed into the blood stream.
- Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)
- A branch of the ANS (autonomic nervous system) responsible for mobilizing the body’s energy when stressed or aroused.
- Synapse
- The specialized junction between a neuron and another neuron or muscle cell for transfer of information such as brain signals, sensory inputs, etc., along the nervous system. One neuron may have many synapses with other neurons. As an impulse traveling along a nerve fiber arrives at the pre-synaptic area, it releases a neurotransmitter. The transmitter travels across the synapse and binds with a receptor on the post-synaptic membrane of the other cell.
- Syncope
- Fainting.
