Neurologic symptoms vary greatly because the nervous system controls many different body functions. Symptoms can include all forms of pain and can involve muscle function, sensation, interpretation of sensory stimuli, the special senses (vision, taste, smell, and hearing), sleep, awareness (consciousness), and mental function (cognition). The following are some examples:
Auras (eg, visual, olfactory), as occur in seizures Seizure Disorders A seizure is an abnormal, unregulated electrical discharge that occurs within the brain’s cortical gray matter and transiently interrupts normal brain function. A seizure typically causes altered... read more , migraines Migraine Migraine is an episodic primary headache disorder. Symptoms typically last 4 to 72 hours and may be severe. Pain is often unilateral, throbbing, worse with exertion, and accompanied by symptoms... read more , or encephalitis Encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the parenchyma of the brain, resulting from direct viral invasion or occurring as a postinfectious immunologic complication caused by a hypersensitivity reaction... read more
Bradykinesia
Dysarthria (eg, due to stroke Overview of Stroke Strokes are a heterogeneous group of disorders involving sudden, focal interruption of cerebral blood flow that causes neurologic deficit. Strokes can be Ischemic (80%), typically resulting... read more
or cranial nerve palsies Overview of Neuro-ophthalmologic and Cranial Nerve Disorders Dysfunction of certain cranial nerves may affect the eye, pupil, optic nerve, or extraocular muscles and their nerves; thus, they can be considered cranial nerve disorders, neuro-ophthalmologic... read more )Involuntary movements (eg, chorea Chorea, Athetosis, and Hemiballismus Chorea is a nonrhythmic, jerky, rapid, nonsuppressible involuntary movement, mostly of the distal muscles and face; movements may be incorporated into semipurposeful acts that mask the involuntary... read more , myoclonus Myoclonus Myoclonus is a brief, shocklike contraction of a muscle or group of muscles. Diagnosis is clinical and sometimes confirmed by electromyographic testing. Treatment includes correction of reversible... read more , tics Tic Disorders and Tourette Syndrome in Children and Adolescents Tics are defined as repeated, sudden, rapid, nonrhythmic muscle movements including sounds or vocalizations. Tourette syndrome is diagnosed when people have had both motor and vocal tics for... read more )
Muscle stiffness or rigidity (as occurs in Parkinson disease Parkinson Disease Parkinson disease is a slowly progressive, degenerative disorder characterized by resting tremor, stiffness (rigidity), slow and decreased movement (bradykinesia), and eventually gait and/or... read more or stiff man syndrome Stiff-Person Syndrome Stiff-person syndrome is a CNS disorder that causes progressive muscle stiffness and spasms. (See also Overview of Peripheral Nervous System Disorders.) Stiff-person syndrome (formerly called... read more )
Vision loss Acute Vision Loss Loss of vision is usually considered acute if it develops within a few minutes to a couple of days. It may affect one or both eyes and all or part of a visual field. Patients with small visual... read more , blurring Blurred Vision Blurred vision is the most common visual symptom. It usually refers to decreased visual clarity of gradual onset, and corresponds to decreased visual acuity. Patients with small visual field... read more , scotomata Scotomata The disorder is most often idiopathic or associated with older age but can also be caused by connective tissue diseases (eg, Sjögren syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus)... read more (as occur with migraines), or diplopia Diplopia Diplopia is the perception of 2 images of a single object. Diplopia may be monocular or binocular. Monocular diplopia is present when only one eye is open. Binocular diplopia disappears when... read more
