Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome
Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by skin abnormalities and the premature fusion of certain bones of the skull craniosynostosis), which prevents further growth of the skull and affects the shape of the head and face.

Orofacial Birth Defect
Choanal atresia, cleft lip, cleft palate

Ear Birth Defect
Anotia/microtia

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.

Alzheimer's disease
Severe form of dementia caused by significant deterioration of brain tissue.

Pfeiffer syndrome
Many of the characteristic facial features of Pfeiffer syndrome result from the premature fusion of the skull bones. The head is unable to grow normally, which leads to bulging and wide-set eyes, an underdeveloped upper jaw, and a beaked nose.

NBDPS
National Birth Defects Prevention Study

brain tumor
An abnormal growth of tissue in the brain

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS causes degeneration of the nerve cells in certain regions of the brain and spinal cord that control the muscles.

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.