Neuroscience

Everyone has experienced low back pain at one time or another. Most people can recover from low back pain with home treatment, such as changes in activity, weight loss, quitting smoking, and other steps. Sometimes medicine or surgery is needed. ...more

Radiculopathy, commonly called pinched nerve, often occurs in the low back....more

Corticosteroid injections can treat many skeletal, muscular, and spinal conditions. Some of these injections can be done by your health care provider during a routine clinic visit. Others need a referral to a pain specialist. ...more

Your neck is at risk for injury because of its location and range of motion. Neck pain can be caused by injury, age, or inflammatory disorders. ...more

Cervical spondylosis is a type of arthritis that affects your neck. This condition becomes more common with age, and most people who are older than 60 have it. ...more

A head injury is a broad term that describes many injuries that occur to the scalp, skull, brain, and underlying tissue and blood vessels in the head. Head injuries are also commonly referred to as brain injury, or traumatic brain injury, depending on the extent of the head trauma. ...more

Acquired brain injury hapens when a sudden, external, physical assault damages the brain. It is one of the most common causes of disability and death in adults. ...more

Car accidents, falls, and other injuries are a common cause of acute spinal cord injury....more

Spinal cord compression can occur anywhere along your spine. Symptoms include numbness, pain, and weakness. ...more

The brain is an important organ that controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, respiration, and every process that regulates your body. ...more

Healthcare providers do not know exactly what causes a brain tumor. But certain factors may raise your risk. ...more

A tumor forms when an abnormal cell grows to form a mass of abnormal cells. Spinal cord tumors are tumors that form on the spinal cord or in the area around it. ...more

Epilepsy is a brain condition that causes a person to have seizures. It's one of the most common disorders of the nervous system. ...more

A seizure that lasts at least 30 minutes is called status epilepticus, or a prolonged seizure. This is a medical emergency that may lead to permanent brain damage or death. Many medical experts become concerned that a seizure is status epilepticus after it lasts 5 to 10 minutes. ...more

Epilepsy is a disorder of the nervous system. It is also called a seizure disorder. Normally the body's nerves send information by electrical and chemical signals. People with epilepsy have abnormal electrical signals in the brain. This can cause a seizure. Seizures can cause severe shaking of muscles. Or they may be very mild with hardly any symptoms at all. ...more

Some people with epilepsy will have or eventually develop refractory epilepsy. This means that medicines don't work well, or at all, to control the seizures. ...more

Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the fatty tissue that surrounds the nerves is destroyed. When this happens, the nerves are unable to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain. It causes muscle weakness, impaired coordination, and fatigue. ...more

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that interferes with your brain's ability to operate your body. ...more

Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) is a type of multiple sclerosis that causes flare-ups with periods of remission in between. Most people diagnosed with MS start off with this type. ...more

Optic neuritis is a condition that affects the eye and your vision. It occurs when the optic nerve is inflamed. ...more

Multiple sclerosis is a central nervous system disorder. Pregnancy does not appear to speed up MS or make its effects worse. ...more

Bacterial meningitis is an infection of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. It causes headache, stiff neck, and high fever. ...more

Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain. Meningitis can be caused by either a virus or bacteria. Bacterial meningitis may be life-threatening. ...more

A look at the 2 vaccines designed to help prevent meningococcal disease in preteens, teens, and young adults: MenACWY and MenB. ...more

BSE is a cattle disease, and vCJD is the equivalent disease in humans. Both are fatal brain diseases. Researchers believe that people become infected by eating beef contaminated with BSE. ...more

A cerebral abscess can cause your brain to swell, putting harmful pressure on brain tissue. An abscess can also keep blood from flowing to parts of your brain. If you develop this problem, you will need emergency treatment. ...more

Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The inflammation causes the brain to swell, which leads to changes in neurological function. It results in mental confusion and seizures. Read on to learn more. ...more

Herpes meningoencephalitis is an infection of the brain and the tissue that covers it with the herpes simplex virus. ...more

An epidural abscess is an infection that forms in the space between your skull bones and your brain lining (intracranial epidural abscess). ...more

Muscular dystrophy is a group of inherited diseases that are characterized by weakness and wasting away of muscle tissue, with or without the breakdown of nerve tissue. ...more

Muscular dystrophy (MD) is an inherited (genetic) disorder of the muscles. It is called a neuromuscular disease. There are several types. Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a rare type. ...more

Distal muscular dystrophy (DD) is a group of rare diseases that affect your muscle. It usually appears between ages 40 and 60, but it can sometimes show up as early as the teen years. ...more

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurological disorder that causes progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. It is often referred to as Lou Gehrig disease. ...more

Lambert-Eaton syndrome is an autoimmune disorder affecting the areas where nerves and muscles connect. It causes weak muscles, trouble walking, and other symptoms. ...more

Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which antibodies destroy neuromuscular connections. This causes problems with communication between nerves and muscle, resulting in weakness of the skeletal muscles. Myasthenia gravis affects the voluntary muscles of the body, especially the eyes, mouth, throat, and limbs. ...more

Polymyositis is a disease that causes muscles to become irritated and inflamed. The muscles eventually start to break down and become weak. The condition can affect muscles all over the body. It can make even simple movements hard to do. Polymyositis is 1 disease in a group of diseases called inflammatory myopathies. ...more

Acoustic neuroma is a rare noncancer tumor. It affects hearing and balance when the tumor presses on the nerves in the inner ear. ...more

Bell's palsy is an unexplained episode of facial muscle weakness or paralysis that begins suddenly and gets worse over 48 hours. It is caused by a damaged facial nerve. ...more

Bladder or bowel incontinence means a problem with holding in urine or stool. Here's what you should know. ...more

A Chiari malformation is a problem in which a part of the brain at the rear of the skull bulges through a normal opening in the skull where it joins the spinal canal. Read on to learn more about Chiari malformation type I, the most common type. ...more

Complex regional pain syndrome is an abnormal response by the body to pain....more

Ménière disease is a balance disorder. It causes a severe spinning sensation (vertigo), hearing issues, loss of balance, and headaches. ...more

Cranial neuropathy is a disorder that causes nerve damage in the nerves that arise from the brain and brainstem. This disorder can affect the ability of the face and eyes to feel and move. ...more

Normal pressure hydrocephalus is excess cerebrospinal fluid buildup in the brain ventricles. It may develop from infection, bleeding, injury, or surgery. ...more

Parkinson disease is a motor system disorder that causes trembling, stiffness, and trouble moving. ...more

Parkinson disease is a movement disorder that can cause muscles to tighten and become rigid. It can make it hard to walk and engage in daily activities. ...more

Ataxia means without coordination. People with ataxia lose muscle control in their arms and legs, which may lead to a lack of balance, coordination, and trouble walking. Ataxia may affect the fingers, hands, arms, legs, body, speech, and even eye movements. ...more

Dystonia is a body movement disorder. It causes your muscles to contract, move involuntarily, or get stuck in an abnormal position. ...more

Brachial neuritis is nerve damage that affects the chest, shoulder, arm, and hand. It causes pain, weakness and lack of muscle control and lack of feeling in the shoulder or arm. ...more

The brachial plexus can be injured in many different ways--from pressure, stress, or being stretched too far. The nerves may also be damaged by cancer or radiation treatment. Sometimes, brachial plexus injuries happen to babies during childbirth. ...more

Women develop carpal tunnel syndrome 3 times more frequently than men. It usually occurs only in adults. ...more

Cubital tunnel syndrome happens when the ulnar nerve, which passes through the inside of the elbow, is injured and becomes inflamed, swollen, and irritated. The pain of cubital tunnel syndrome feels like the pain you feel when you hit your "funny bone." ...more

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare neurological disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. ...more

Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage due to diabetes. Over time, high blood sugar (glucose) can damage the tiny blood vessels that supply your nerves, especially in the legs and feet. ...more

Peripheral neuropathy is a type of damage to the nervous system....more