1) Over the last few weeks, Mr. Roberts has been bothered by nausea,
frequent fainting spells, and severe headaches. Describe at least two different ways such as neuroimaging techniques for example, which a physician might seek to determine whether Mr. Roberts' symptoms are a result of brain injury or disorder. Include a rationale for your choice of techniques.
(MRI)
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), is primarily a noninvasive medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structure and limited function of the body. MRI provides much greater contrast between the different soft tissues of the body than computed tomography (CT) does, making it especially useful in neurological (brain), musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and oncological (cancer) imaging.
(CT)
Computed tomography (CT) is a medical imaging method employing tomography created by computer processing. Digital geometry processing is used to generate a three-dimensional image of the inside of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation.
(PET)
A PET scan measures important body functions, such as blood flow, oxygen use, and sugar (glucose) metabolism, to help doctors evaluate how well organs and tissues are functioning.
(fMRI)
Functional MRI or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a type of specialized MRI scan. It measures the hemodynamic response (change in blood flow) related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans or other animals. It is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging. Since the early 1990s, fMRI has come to dominate the brain mapping field due to its relatively low invasiveness, absence of radiation exposure, and relatively wide availability.
(EEG)
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp produced by the firing of neurons within the brain. In clinical contexts, EEG refers to the recording of the brain's spontaneous electrical activity over a short period of time, usually 20–40 minutes, as recorded from multiple electrodes placed on the scalp. In neurology, the main diagnostic application of EEG is in the case of epilepsy, as epileptic activity can create clear abnormalities on a standard EEG study. A secondary clinical use of EEG is in the diagnosis of coma, encephalopathies, and brain death. EEG used to be a first-line method for the diagnosis of tumors, stroke and other focal brain disorders, but this use has decreased with the advent of anatomical imaging techniques such as MRI and CT.
Given the various methods to use for neuroimaging, I would suggest that Mr Roberts should have either and MRI because MRI scans produce more detailed images allowing doctors to see into the brain as if it was transparent. Or recommend a CT allowing doctors to x-ray the brain from different angles because CT scans can reveal the location of injuries, tumors or other brain disorders.
2) After a mild stroke, Mrs. Smith has been showing signs of aphasia.
What pattern of symptoms would lead you to believe the damage occurred primarily in (a) Wernicke's area (b) Broca's area?
(Aphasia)
inability to use or understand language (spoken or written) because of a brain lesion.
(Broca's Aphasia)
aphasia in which expression by speech or writing is severely impaired.
(Wernicke's Aphasia)
aphasia characterized by fluent but meaningless speech and severe impairment of the ability to understand spoken or written words.
To better understand Mrs. Smith and give her the best evaluation, one would have to decide in two ways which side of the brain is more effected by her speech pattern, language ability , comprehension of spoken or written words.
If Mrs. Smiths aphasia is formed from the Broca's area. She would speak in short meaningful phrases that are produced with great effort. People affected with Broca's aphasia often omit small words such as "is", "and" and "the". So for example a person effected with Broca's aphasia might say something like " Girls bath " which could mean "it is time for the girls baths". Individuals with Broca's aphasia are able to understand the speech of others to varying degrees. Because of this, they are often aware of their difficulties and can become easily frustrated by their speaking problems.
If Mrs Smiths aphasia is formed from the Wernicke's area, she may speak in long sentences that have no meanings, creating new words or adding unnecessary words. So for example she might say something like , "You know that smoodle pinkered and that I want to get him round and take care of him like you want before" meaning, " The dog needs to go out so I will take him for a walk". They have poor auditory and reading comprehension, and fluent, but nonsensical, oral and written expression. Individuals with Wernicke's aphasia usually have great difficulty understanding the speech of both themselves and others and are therefore often unaware of their mistakes.
After gaining a better or clearer understanding the various differences between her language evaluations. It would be easy to decide which area of the brain that the problem most stems from.
~ Vanessa
Subject: Unit 3 Discussion post ~ u03d2 Techniques for Mapping and Exploring Brain Function ~ Due July 29th 
Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:03 am
