Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

Alexander disease
Alexander disease is considered one of the leukodystrophies, a group of disorders where the primary abnormality is the inability to maintain the fatty covering (myelin) that insulates nerve fibers in the brain. Alexander disease is a rare disorder of the nervous system that usually begins during infancy or early childhood.

NBDPN
National Birth Defects Prevention Network

Muenke syndrome
The primary feature of this disease is prematurely fused skull bones along the coronal suture, the growth line which goes over the head from ear to ear. This can result in an abnormally shaped head, wide-set eyes, and flattened cheekbones.

brain plasticity
Theories based on the idea that the brain may have the ability to use surviving brain cells in a different way to make up for those brain cells that are damaged.

CBDRP
Centers for Birth Defects Research & Prevention

brain tumor
An abnormal growth of tissue in the brain

brain
The part of the central nervous system inside the skull. Its functions include muscle control and coordination, sensory reception and integration, speech production, memory storage and the elaboration of thought and emotion.

Orofacial Birth Defect
Choanal atresia, cleft lip, cleft palate

acetylcholine (ACH)
A chemical in the body that carries messages between the nerves and muscles; a neurotransmitter.

Central nervous system Birth Defect
Neural tube defects, hydrocephaly, holoprosencephaly, Dandy-Walker malformation