Nervous System, Senses & Behavioral Health

This is Unit Twelve of Medical Terminology, Part Two of three: the ear, the neurological findings, and the behavioral health vocabulary. Unit Twelve is the largest unit in the course at seventy-four entries, so it runs as three lectures. Part One built the nervous system roots, the sensation and movement suffixes, and the whole eye run. This part begins where the vision terms end. The ear repeats a pattern the eye did not. Two combining forms name the ear and two name the eardrum, each pair splitting Greek from Latin, and all four are in current use. The decoding method does not choose between them. Then a function root and its suffix, and two structures inside the ear — one that senses sound, and one that serves balance as well as hearing. Then the unit names losses. A seizure. A loss of language with a near-twin in the digestive vocabulary. And three paralysis terms built on one suffix, where the prefix carries the whole distinction. Halfway through, the register changes. The behavioral health entries open by stating what they will not do, and three of them carry a support line on screen for their full runtime. Those lines are shown and never spoken, and the boundary they mark is the content at those points rather than a disclaimer attached to it. By the end you will be able to do five things. One: give both roots for the ear and both for the eardrum. Two: tell the organ root from the function root, and name the two structures inside the ear. Three: say what vertigo, tinnitus and a seizure each name, and what none of them states. Four: tell the three plegia terms apart by prefix alone. Five: state the boundary this course sets on behavioral health terms, and separate mood from affect.

Four entries open the ear, and the first lesson is that the ear has two names. Ot slash o came into the vocabulary from Greek and aur slash o from Latin, and both are current. The eardrum is doubled the same way, tympan slash o beside myring slash o. Nothing in the decoding method chooses between the members of either pair, so all four have to be known on sight — and one of them carries a dictation hazard the entry names outright.

The ear, from Greek.

MedTerm 0785 ot/o: Ear

The combining form ot slash o names the ear, and it comes from Greek. Otitis is inflammation of the ear, built on the suffix itis from Unit Two. A second combining form names the same organ and comes from Latin, and this entry's own LINK line hands straight over to it rather than presenting ot slash o as the single answer.

The ear, from Latin.

MedTerm 0786 aur/o: Ear

The combining forms aur slash o and auricul slash o also name the ear, and they come from Latin. Aural means pertaining to the ear. Aural concerns the ear and oral concerns the mouth, and the two sound alike in dictation, which is where this pair does its damage rather than on the page.

The eardrum.

MedTerm 0787 tympan/o: Eardrum

The combining form tympan slash o names the tympanic membrane, the eardrum. Tympanostomy is the creation of an opening in the eardrum, on the suffix ostomy from Unit Two. As with the ear itself, a second combining form names the same membrane, and this entry points at it rather than settling the question.

The eardrum again.

MedTerm 0788 myring/o: Eardrum

The combining form myring slash o also names the tympanic membrane. Myringotomy is a surgical incision into the eardrum, on the suffix otomy. Tympan and myring name one structure, and both appear in current procedure terms, so neither can be filed away as the older form and left unrecognized.

Four entries turn from the organ to the function. Audi slash o names hearing rather than the ear, and the suffix that follows builds a condition of hearing on whatever root or prefix precedes it. Then two structures inside the ear: one that senses sound, and one that governs balance as well as hearing, which is why the second one's terms turn up in two different kinds of record.

The function, not the organ.

MedTerm 0789 audi/o: Hearing

The combining form audi slash o names hearing. An audiologist specializes in hearing, on the suffix logist from Unit Two. Audi slash o names the function and ot slash o names the organ, which is why the vocabulary carries both roots — and why an audiologist is not named on the root for the ear.

A condition of hearing.

MedTerm 0790 -acusis: Hearing Condition

The suffix acusis names a condition of hearing described by its root or prefix. Presbyacusis is hearing loss associated with aging, built on the root presby carried over from the vision run in Part One. The suffix is also written cusis in some terms, so both spellings have to be recognized.

Where sound is sensed.

MedTerm 0791 cochle/o: Cochlea

The combining form cochle slash o names the cochlea, the spiral structure of the inner ear that senses sound. A cochlear implant is a device placed in relation to this structure. The cochlea senses sound and the eardrum transmits it, which is the distinction keeping this root apart from tympan and myring.

Hearing and balance together.

MedTerm 0792 labyrinth/o: Inner Ear

The combining form labyrinth slash o names the labyrinth, the inner ear structures governing hearing and balance. Labyrinthitis is inflammation of the inner ear. The labyrinth serves balance as well as hearing, so its terms turn up in both contexts and the record around them decides which is meant.

Two entries, and both are perception terms rather than structure terms. Each names what a person experiences, and each is narrower than the everyday word that sounds like it. Neither states anything about a cause, and both entries say so outright rather than leaving it to be assumed from the surrounding vocabulary.

A spinning sensation.

MedTerm 0793 Vertigo

Vertigo is a sensation that the surroundings or the self are spinning. Records describe it by its duration and by what brings it on. Vertigo names that specific spinning sensation and not lightheadedness in general, which is the looser everyday sense the clinical term does not carry.

Sound with no source.

MedTerm 0794 Tinnitus

Tinnitus is the perception of sound, often ringing, in the absence of an external source. It is described by its character and by whether it affects one ear or both, which is the unilateral and bilateral pair from Unit Four. Tinnitus names a perceived sound and states nothing about its cause.

Five entries name losses. The first carries a hard boundary set by the course's own convention: it names the term and assigns everything past the definition to clinical training. The second is a language term with a near-twin in the digestive vocabulary, one letter away. The last three are a cluster built on a single suffix, where three prefixes carry the entire distinction between them.

An episode in the brain.

MedTerm 0795 A Seizure

A seizure is an episode of abnormal electrical activity in the brain, and a record describes it by its duration and by what was observed. This entry names the term and goes no further. Recognizing or responding to a seizure belongs to clinical training this course does not provide.

Language, not swallowing.

MedTerm 0796 Aphasia

Aphasia is the loss of the ability to produce or understand language. The prefix a names without and phasia names speech. Aphasia concerns language, and dysphagia, differing by one letter, concerns swallowing. The letter is the only thing separating two terms that name entirely different findings.

One side.

MedTerm 0797 Hemiplegia

Hemiplegia is paralysis of one side of the body. The prefix hemi names half and plegia names paralysis. Three plegia terms differ only by their prefix and each names a different pattern, so this entry opens a cluster of three and links to both of the others rather than standing on its own.

Both lower limbs.

MedTerm 0798 Paraplegia

Paraplegia is paralysis of both lower limbs and, often, the lower trunk. The prefix para here names a paired or lower position rather than beside. Para carries more than one sense, and this is a term where the sense the course teaches everywhere else does not apply — a limit of the method, taught as a limit.

All four limbs.

MedTerm 0799 Quadriplegia

Quadriplegia is paralysis of all four limbs. The prefix quadri names four, and the term is also written tetraplegia, from the Greek for four. Hemi is one side, para is both legs, quadri is all four. The prefix carries the whole distinction, and the suffix carries none of it.

Five entries, and the run opens with its own boundary rather than with a word. Three of them carry a support line on screen for their full runtime, shown and never spoken. Two suffixes sit in the middle of the run and behave like any other suffix in the course; the entries either side of them do not, and that difference is the whole point of the framing entry that opens the run.

The boundary, stated first.

MedTerm 0800 How This Course Handles Behavioral Health Terms

This course defines behavioral health terms and stops there, naming what each word means and nothing about how a condition is recognized, assessed, or treated. Each entry gives a meaning in one sentence and no more. These are words, not tools. Anything past the definition belongs to training this course does not provide.

Reported, and observed.

MedTerm 0801 Affect and Mood

Mood names a person's sustained emotional state. Affect names the emotional expression an observer sees. A record may note that the two are consistent with one another, or that they are not. Mood is reported by the person and affect is observed by another, which is why the two are recorded separately.

A fear, or a sensitivity.

MedTerm 0802 -phobia: Fear

The suffix phobia names a persistent and excessive fear of what its root identifies. Photophobia is an excessive sensitivity to light. In some terms phobia names sensitivity rather than fear, as photophobia does, so the root has to be read before the suffix can be trusted to mean fear.

A preoccupation.

MedTerm 0803 -mania: Excessive Preoccupation

The suffix mania names an excessive preoccupation with what its root identifies. The root pyro with mania names an excessive preoccupation with fire. Phobia names aversion and mania names preoccupation, and both attach to the same kinds of root, which is why the book numbers them next to each other.

The clinical sense of a common word.

MedTerm 0804 Depression as a Clinical Term

In clinical use, depression names a persistent low mood with loss of interest, lasting beyond a brief period. The clinical term and the everyday word carry different weight. This entry defines a word. It is not a means of identifying the condition in anyone.

Two entries close this part. The first sorts nine terms into sensation, movement and special sense, which is the question worth asking of any term in this unit before decoding begins. The second is the capstone: fourteen terms taken suffix first, on word parts drawn from every unit from Two onward.

Nine terms, sorted three ways.

MedTerm 0805 Reading Neurological and Sensory Terms

A neurological or sensory term describes one of three things: sensation, movement, or a special sense. Anesthesia is absence of sensation and paresthesia is abnormal sensation, differing only by prefix. Hemiplegia is complete paralysis of one side, hemiparesis weakness on one side, apraxia loss of purposeful movement, ataxia loss of coordination. Myopia and hyperopia are conditions of vision and presbyacusis a condition of hearing, each on the suffix belonging to its sense. Plegia and paresis take the same prefixes and name complete against partial loss, and that one distinction changes the finding.

The capstone. Fourteen terms, suffix first.

MedTerm 0806 Capstone: Fourteen Nervous and Sensory Terms Decoded

Fourteen terms decoded suffix first, on word parts from Units Two through Twelve. Itis on neur, mening and encephal gives inflammation of a nerve, of the meninges, of the brain, and on ot inflammation of the ear. Pathy on neur and on retin gives disease of the nerves and of the retina. Gram on electr and encephal gives a record of the brain's electrical activity. Oma on gli is a tumour of glial cells, logy on ophthalm the study of the eye. Ptosis on blephar is a drooping eyelid, otomy on myring a surgical incision into the eardrum, itis on dacry and cyst inflammation of the tear sac. Terms seven and eight share a prefix and a root and differ only in suffix: hemiplegia is complete loss, hemiparesis partial.

Five things to carry out of Part Two. The ear has two roots and so does the eardrum. Ot slash o and tympan slash o came from Greek, aur slash o and myring slash o from Latin, and all four are current. Myringotomy and tympanostomy are both live procedure terms, so neither member of either pair can be treated as retired. Aural and oral sound alike in dictation, which is the one place this doubling causes harm. Audi slash o names hearing and ot slash o names the ear, a function against an organ, which is why an audiologist is not named on the organ root. Inside the ear, cochle slash o senses sound where the eardrum transmits it, and labyrinth slash o serves balance as well as hearing, so its terms carry into two kinds of record. Vertigo names a spinning sensation and not lightheadedness in general. Tinnitus names a perceived sound and states nothing about its cause. A seizure is an episode of abnormal electrical activity in the brain, and the entry names the term and assigns recognizing or responding to one to clinical training. One suffix and three prefixes give the paralysis cluster. Hemi is one side, para is both lower limbs, quadri is all four, also written tetraplegia. Para is doing something here it does nowhere else in the course, and the entry says so rather than glossing it. Aphasia is a loss of language; dysphagia, one letter away, is swallowing. The behavioral health entries define and stop. Mood is what a person reports and affect is what an observer sees, which is why records carry the two separately. Depression in clinical use names a persistent low mood with loss of interest, and the entry says outright that it is not a means of identifying the condition in anyone. Part Three takes the eating disorder and substance use terminology inserted into this unit's gap block, under the same boundary stated here.