Nervous System and Neurological Disorders

What the unit covers

This unit sits in the Neurology strand of Internal medicine, pathology and clinical semiology. It mixes basic neuropathology with named diseases and presenting problems, so you can move from structure to clinical picture.

The flashcard deck on altered neuronal transmission covers chromatolysis, neuronophagia, gliosis, the blood-brain barrier and terms such as paresthesia and quadriplegia. The Neuropathology mind map lays out grey and white matter, nuclei and cortex.

Diseases and syndromes

• Vascular: several stroke mind maps, flashcard decks and quizzes, plus a quiz on intracranial haemorrhage.
• Demyelinating and degenerative: the Demyelinating disorders mind map, many Multiple Sclerosis maps, and material on Parkinson's disease, Huntington Disease and motor neurone disease.
• Tumours: the CNS Tumors mind map separates metastatic from primary tumours, with glioblastoma multiforme and meningioma.
• Pressure and injury: the Incr. ICP mind map, traumatic brain injury maps and a spinal cord injury quiz.
• Other: epilepsy, headache, meningitis, encephalitis and Guillain Barre Syndrome.

Where to start

Begin with the Neuropathology mind map, then the flashcard deck on altered neuronal transmission, so the vocabulary is familiar. Next choose one disease group, such as stroke or multiple sclerosis, and read a mind map before anything else.

For clinical thinking, open the Loss of Consciousness(LOC) mind map and the note on headache differential and red flags. The headache note is framed around examination, which suits OSCE-style revision.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map, close it, then take a quiz on the same topic. The practice-question quizzes on cerebrovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, movement disorders and CNS infections work well for this. Note what you missed, go back to the map, and try again later. Teachers can set a map as pre-reading and a quiz as a quick check.

Exam candidates will find USMLE mentioned in some of the listed material, so check the resource descriptions for relevance.

Make it your own

If a topic is thin, build your own flashcards or a map from a note and keep it alongside the community sets.