Brain Injury Terms and Definitions

CBDRP
Centers for Birth Defects Research & Prevention

brain tumor
An abnormal growth of tissue in the brain

CBDMP
California Birth Defects Monitoring Program

Bell's palsy
A weakness or paralysis of the muscles that control expression on one side of the face because of damage to a facial nerve.

aneurysm
The localized enlargement of a blood vessel, usually an artery, that forms a bulge or sac.

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

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.

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

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.

hypothalamus
The part of the brain that controls body functions such as eating, sleeping and sexual behavior, maintains body temperature and chemical balance, and regulates many hormones.