The following are some neuro lingo that you may find throughout the site. It may be interesting also to you the glossary to put your knowledge of your nervous system and your health to the test.
You can search for a particular term, or click on a letter to browse entries.
There are currently 32 names in this directory beginning with the letter S.
Sacral Nerves
Five pairs of spinal nerves that originate from your sacrum bone in you lower back. They send signals to and from the back of your legs as well as to your sex organs.
Sarcoidosis
Sarcoid is a chronic disease where abnormal protein substances called granulomas. The disease affects the lungs, skin, eyes and potentially all parts of the nervous system (10-17% of people).
Schizophrenia
A chronic neurobehavioral disorder, or psychiatric disorder that causes distorted thoughts and perceptions. It also causes symptoms of delusions and hallucinations. This disease usually appears during adolescence or young adulthood.
Sciatic Nerve
A major nerve in your body that runs through your buttock muscles into the back of the thigh. It then divides into two nerves behind the knee and travels down into the foot.
Sciatica
Neuropathic type pain that may include tingling, numbness or muscle weakness from sciatic nerve injury or irritation.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
A cyclical type of depression that occurs based on seasonal change, particularly when there is less light present during the day.
Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors
A pharmaceutical drug type, also called SSRI, that works by inhibiting the reabsorption serotonin in your nervous systems. These drugs are used to treat depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and eating disorders.
Sensory Neurons
Neurons that send impulses from the skin and parts of the body to the central nervous system.
Serial Processing
When a single neuron in your nervous system is excited at a time, for the purpose of transmitting information along a chain of neurons.
Serotonin
A widespread nervous system neuro transmitter involved in pain, sleep mood and appetite control.
Sleep Apnea
A neurological disorder of sleep in which a person stops breathing for short periods of time.
Sleep Regulatory Substances
Proteins that accumulate in your cerebrospinal fluid during wakefulness, which cause you to go to sleep after those proteins work for a certain level.
Somatic Nervous System
Your voluntary nervous system which is usually under your conscious control. Consists of nerve fibers that send signals from your central nervous system to your skeletal muscles.
Somatosensory Cortex
The region in your brain responsible for processing stimulation coming from the skin, body wall, muscles, bones, tendons and joints. It modulates the intensity of your pain sensation.
Spinal Nerve Block
A procedure that is used to relieve pain in a broad area, such as the abdomen or the legs, in which a local anesthetic is injected in or near a person's spinal column to prevent pain signals from traveling to the brain.
Spinal Nerves
Your nerves that branch out from your spinal cord for the purpose of relaying information to an from the spinal cord.
Stem Cells
An unspecialized cell with the ability to grow and develop into other types of cells and tissues.
Sturge Weber Syndrome
A rare sporadic neurological disease where a person has structural malformations of the vessel malformations of the skin, face and central nervous system.
Subclavian Steal Syndrome
A neurological vascular condition where narrowing of the major neck artery called the subclavian artery is blocked. Therefore, blood flow is diverted from the neck and the back of the head, which causes symptoms of: vertigo, visual changes and or loss of vision.
Subcortical Dementia
A type of dementia affecting the lower regions of a person's brain, involving symptoms of changes in a person's movement and emotion, as well as memory problems.
Superior Temporal Sulcus
The part of your brain that contains your neural networks that are responsible for motion detection and motion analysis.
Sympathetic Nervous System
A branch of your autonomic nervous system that signals your body to be "alert" and gives you energy in response to fear or excitement.
Syncope
A transient loss of consciousness (LOC) due to transient lack of blood flow to a person's brain. It is characterized by rapid onset, short duration and spontaneous and complete recovery.