Neupsy Key

A. Dysarthria refers to abnormal phonic characteristics of speech production due to impairment of the motor processes of speech. This contrasts with aphasia, in which abnormalities of language underlie impaired…

Pulsatile tinnitus refers to a perception of sound that coincides with the heartbeat. It may arise from a vascular lesion causing disruption of laminar flow, leading to turbulence that produces…

Evaluation of hearing loss begins with determining whether one or both ears are involved. With bilateral symmetric hearing loss, symptoms are almost always slowly progressive over time. Unilateral hearing loss…

Patients use the term “dizziness” to refer to many qualitatively different symptoms. Lightheadedness, such as is seen with presyncope, gait imbalance, true vertigo, and, not uncommonly, generalized weakness or mental…

A. Acute continuous vertigo, with onset over seconds to hours, is a common symptom. It is often associated with nausea, vomiting, gait unsteadiness, head motion intolerance, and nystagmus. The main…

A. The upper motor neurons that innervate the face (corticobulbar tract) originate from the primary motor cortex in the frontal lobe and travel through corona radiata and genu of the…

A. Nystagmus is a rhythmic, biphasic, oscillatory eye movement consistingof a slow phase in one direction followed by either a fast phase (jerk nystagmus) or another slow phase (pendular nystagmus)…

A. Diplopia is the visual symptom of “double vision,” in which a single object appears as two separate images. With the exception of central polyopia, which is exceedingly rare, diplopia…

Anisocoria refers to asymmetry in pupillary diameter between the two eyes. When pathologic, anisocoria indicates a disorder of pupillary constriction or dilation. If the disorder is of pupillary constriction, the…

The primary muscle of eyelid elevation is the levator palpebrae (LP), which is innervated by the oculomotor nerve. A secondary muscle (the superior tarsal) is innervated by oculosympathetic nerve fibers…