Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

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.

NBDPN
National Birth Defects Prevention Network

hypothalamus
The part of the brain that controls body functions such as eating, sleeping and sexual behavior, maintains body temperature and chemical balance, and regulates many hormones.

closed head injury
An injury to the head or brain in which the skull remains intact.

Musculoskeletal Birth Defect
Diaphragmatic hernia, gastroschisis, omphalocele, limb deficiency, craniosynostosis, bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy, sacral agenesis/caudal regression.

Orofacial Birth Defect
Choanal atresia, cleft lip, cleft palate

enkephalins
(en-KEF-uh-lins). Naturally occurring molecules in the brain. Enkephalins attach to special receptors in the brain and spinal cord to inhibit pain messages. They also affect other functions within the brain and nervous system.

aneurysm
The localized enlargement of a blood vessel, usually an artery, that forms a bulge or sac.

Non-system-specific Birth Defect
Amniotic band sequence

stroke
A condition produced by a blood clot that lodges in an artery and blocks the flow of blood to a portion of the brain, producing symptoms ranging from paralysis of limbs and loss of speech to unconsciousness and death. Less commonly, a stroke may be the result of bleeding into the substance of the brain.