The ability to use appropriate righting and equilibrium reactions to maintain an upright
position. It is usually tested in sitting and standing positions.
The implication of this term is that the individual experienced normal growth and
development from conception through birth, until sustaining an insult to the brain at some later time which resulted in impairment of brain function.
Brain Injury, Closed
Occurs when the head accelerates and then rapidly decelerates or collides with another
object (for example the windshield of a car) and brain tissue is damaged, not by the presence of a foreign
object within the brain, but by violent smashing, stretching, and twisting, of brain tissue. Closed
brain injuries typically cause diffuse tissue damage that results in disabilities which are generalized
and highly variable.
Brain Injury, Mild
A patient with a mild traumatic brain injury is a person who has had a traumatically-induced
physiological disruption of brain function, as manifested by at least one of the following: 1) any
period of loss of consciousness, 2) any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the
accident, 3) any alteration in mental state at the time of the accident (e.g., feeling dazed,
disoriented, or confused), 4) focal neurological deficit(s) which may or may not be transient; but
where the severity of the injury does not exceed the following: a) loss of consciousness of
approximately 30 minutes or less; b) after 30 minutes, an initial Glasgow Coma Scale score of
13-15; c) Post Traumatic Amnesia not greater than 24 hours.
Brain Injury, Traumatic
Damage to living brain tissue caused by an external, mechanical force. It is usually
characterized by a period of altered consciousness (amnesia or coma) that can be very brief
(minutes) or very long (months/indefinitely). The specific disabling condition(s) may be
orthopedic, visual, aural, neurologic, perceptive/cognitive, or mental/emotional in nature. The
term does not include brain injuries that are caused by insufficient blood supply, toxic substances,
malignancy, disease-producing organisms, congential disorders, birth trauma or degenerative
processes.
Brain Plasticity
The ability of intact brain cells to take over functions of damaged cells; plasticity diminishes
with maturation.
An imaging technique in which a radioactive dye (radionucleide) is injected into the blood
stream and then pictures of the brain are taken to detect tumors, hemorrhages, blood clots, abscesses or
abnormal anatomy.
The lower extension of the brain where it connects to the spinal cord. Neurological functions
located in the brain stem include those necessary for survival (breathing, heart rate) and for
arousal (being awake and alert).
