Glossary

Abduction: Moving of the leg or arm away from the center of the body

Abstract thinking: The ability to think about things that are not currently present or tangible

Abulia: Difficulty with self control, decision making, slow reactions and less verbal

Acalculia: The loss of ability to complete arithmetic problems

Acquired brain injury (ABI): Injury causing brain damage to a brain that has developed normally

Acute care: Medical care provided in a hospital

Adaptive equipment: Devices that are used to assist with completing activities of daily living

Adduction: Moving of the leg or arm toward the center of the body

ADL: Activities of Daily Living (bathing, dressing, eating, personal hygiene and grooming, toilet hygiene, functional mobility)

Affect: The facial expression of emotions

Agnosia: Inability to recognize familiar objects

Agraphia: Loss of ability to complete written language tasks

Alexia: Loss of ability to read

Ambulate: The physical act of walking

Amnesia: Loss of memory of events which occurred during a time period

Anomia: Loss of ability to remember names of certain objects

Anoxia: Insufficient oxygen which can cause damage to brain cells

Anosmia: Inability to smell

Anticonvulsant: A type of medication which is used to reduce or prevent seizures

Aphasia: A language disorder caused by injury or damage to the brain

Aphonia: Inability to make an audible voice

Apraxia: A sensory-motor disorder with decreased ability to sequence muscle movements

Aprosodia: Loss of ability to produce or understand the meaning of various tones of voice

Arousal: A state of basic alertness; being awake

Articulation: Precision and clarity of speech

Aspiration: Food or liquids passing the vocal folds and entering the airway and/or lungs

Astereognosia: Loss of ability to recognize objects by touch

Ataxia: A decrease in size of a part of the body due to inactivity or other causes

Auditory: Listening, hearing, or perceiving sound

Auditory figure-ground: The ability to focus on a sound or voice while being distracted

Auditory perception: The ability to understand sound or speech

Base of support: The weight-bearing surface, such as the feet when standing

Bilateral coordination: Using both sides of the body in coordination

Bilateral integration: Neurological process of perceiving information from both sides of the body

Binocularity: The ability to form one image from two separate images when viewed with both eyes

Bio feedback: Increasing awareness of involuntary bodily processes to increase conscious control

Body awareness: A mental image of the body’s parts and how they move

Brain plasticity: Degree to which healthy brain cells can assume functions of damaged cells

Brain scan: Pictures taken of the brain by injecting radioactive dye into the bloodstream

Calcaneal valgum: Angling the heels outward

Calcaneal varum: Angling the heels inward

Cerebellum: Part of the back of the brain which helps coordinate movement

Chronic: Long-term and/or frequent

Circumlocution: Using alternate words or description during word retrieval problems

Clonus: A stretching of a muscle followed by a series of muscular contractions

Closed brain injury: When the brain rapidly accelerates and decelerates, such as in a car accident

Cocontraction: Muscles surrounding a joint contracting at the same time

Cognition: The process of perceiving, thinking, understanding and reasoning

Concussion: An altered mental state or unconsciousness caused by an injury to the brain

Contracture: Abnormal shortening of muscles causing decreased range of motion in joints

Contrecoup: Bruising on the opposite side of the brain from where the head was struck

Core: Abdominals and back

Depth perception: Seeing in three dimensions and discriminating distances

Diffuse brain injury: Brain injury with many areas of the brain affected instead of one location

Diplopia: Double vision

Directionality: Having awareness of directions and ability to move in those directions

Discriminative system: Part of the sensory system which allows one to distinguish differences

Disinhibition: Loss of ability to control or suppress impulsive feelings and behaviors

Disorientation: Confusion about person, place, time and/or condition

Distal: Farthest from the center of the body

Dynamic: In motion

Dysarthria: A motor speech disorder; slurred speech

Dyspraxia: A decrease in movement planning

Echolalia: When a person continuously repeats what is said to them

Eye-Hand coordination: The ability of the hands and eyes to work together appropriately

Equilibrium: Balance

Extension: Straightening a joint (legs, arms, etc.)

Fight-or-Flight response: Reaction to danger of aggression or running away

Figure-Ground perception: Ability to distinguish an image from the background

Fine motor: Movements of the eyes, tongue, fingers and toes

Fine motor skills: Ability to use one’s hands, fingers, eyes, tongue and toes; dexterity

Fixation: Focusing the eyes on something

Flexion: Bending of a joint

Form constancy: The ability to identify a shape in any size, location or texture

Genu valgum: Angling the knees inward

Genu varum: Angling the knees outward

Gravitational insecurity: Fear of falling upon movement of the head

Gross motor: Large body muscle movement

Gross motor skills: The ability to coordinate the movements of large muscles of the body

Habituation: Neurologically tuning out the familiar sensations

Hamstrings: Muscles in the back of the thigh

Hand preference: Left handed or right handed

Hyperextension: Over straightening of a joint such as an elbow or knee

Hypermobility: Ability to move beyond the normal range of movement

Hypersensitivity: Overly sensitive to sensations

Hyposensitivity: Lack of sensitivity to sensations

Hypertonic: More muscle tone than normal

Instability: Decreased ability to maintain weight bearing and balance

Integration: Combining parts into a unified whole

Internal rotation: A limb turning inward toward the body

Kinesthesia: Awareness of joint placement and movement in relation to space (climbing stairs)

Lateralization: Movement from side to side

Lumbar: Low back

Modulation: The brain regulating its own activity

Obliquity: Slanting

Oscillation: Linear movements such as swinging arms or jumping up and down

Pes planus: Flat feet

Plasticity: The degree the brain is able to change or recover

Postural adjustments: Shifting one’s body to complete a task

Postural insecurity: A fear of movement

Postural stability: Having the ability to maintain a body position

Pragmatic skills: The ability to behave and speak in socially appropriate ways

Praxis: Control over voluntary and coordinated action

Prone: Position in which the body is lying horizontally with the face down

Proprioception: Awareness on a subconscious level of the position of one’s muscles and joints

Proximal: Nearest to the center of the body or nearest to the point of attachment

Quadriceps: Large muscles on the front of the thigh

Range of motion (ROM): The amount of movement ability in different directions

Receptive language: What is understood or comprehended when one hears spoken language

Rotary movement: Circular or spinning movements

Sensorimotor: A physical response to sensory information

Sensory integration: Ability to perceive and organize sensory information and to plan responses

Sensory registration: First awareness of sensory information

Sensory threshold: The point the sensory information causes a response in the central nervous system

Somatosensory: Touch sensations and body position awareness

Spasticity: Muscles which are overly tensed causing awkward movements

Static: Not in motion

Supine: A horizontal body position with the face upward

Symmetrical: Being the same on the right and left sides of the body, face, mouth, etc.

Tactile: Sense of touch

Thoracic: Upper back or chest

Tracking: Following something with the eyes

Traumatic brain injury (TBI): Brain damage caused by impact and injury from an external force

Unilateral: Only on one side of the body

Vestibular: Sense of movement and gravity

Visual motor: The ability to make appropriate movements based on visual perception

Visual perception: The ability to sense and understand visual sensory information

Weight shift: Movement of body weight from side to side or back to front