Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

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

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.

NBDPS
National Birth Defects Prevention Study

BDPM
Birth Defects Monitoring Program

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

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.

Cardiovascular Birth Defect
Conotruncal heart defects, septal heart defects, obstructive heart defects, atrioventricular septal defects, single ventricle, anomalous pulmonary venous return, heterotaxy, Ebstein malformation.

Canavan disease
Canavan disease is an inherited disorder of the central nervous system in which affected individuals cannot break down a compound called N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid (NAA). Canavan disease is one of a group of genetic disorders called the eukodystrophies.

Parkinson's disease
A progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the part of the brain that helps control muscle movement.

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.