Ms. Smith had a massive headache and was resting quietly when she started to exp

Question

Ms. Smith had a massive headache and was resting quietly when she started to experience weakness on her left side. The ER physician conducted a neurological test and determined that she had left side hemiparesis. The paralysis was particularly noticeable in her face and arm and hand. Interestingly her legs were not severely affected. She also experienced a loss of sensation on her left side. It was determined that she had a stroke involving the middle cerebral artery which effects the areas around the central sulcus. Is this an upper or lower motor neuron injury? Is the first, second or third order neuron effected by this injury? Which side of the brain was injured? What brain regions were effected?

Explanation / Answer

Answer:

a. In this case upper motor neuron gets damaged because a lesion that results in hemiparesis/hemiplegia occurs in the brain or spinal cord, hemiplegic muscles display features of the upper motor neuron syndrome.

b.The Upper motor neurons (UMN) gets effected which are a type of first order neuron.

c. After a stroke in the right hemisphere, the patient is paralyzed on the left side of the body.

d. The brain's right hemisphere controls the muscles on the left side of the body, while the left hemisphere controls the muscles on the right side of the human body. In case of left sided hemiparesis, the cerebral cortex (more specifically motor cortex) of the right hemisphere seem to get effected.

Moreover, left-sided hemiparesis involves injury to the right side of the person's brain, which controls learning processes, certain types of behavior, and non-verbal communication. Injury to this area of a person's brain may also cause people to talk excessively, have short attention spans, as well as memory problems.

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