REM Sleep Behavior Disorder Glossary of Terms

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Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness th...

Antidepressant: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Antidepressants: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Atrophy: A wasting away or diminution. Muscle atrophy is a decrease in muscle mass, often ...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through ...

CT scan: Computerized tomography scan. Pictures of structures within the body created by a...

Dementia: Significant loss of intellectual abilities, such as memory capacity, that is sev...

EEG: Electroencephalogram.

Electrocardiogram: A recording of the electrical activity of the heart. Abbreviated ECG an...

Electroencephalogram: A technique for studying the electrical currents within the brain. E...

Electromyogram: A test that records the electrical activity of muscles. Normal muscles pro...

Epilepsy (seizure disorder): When nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Injure: To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emotional sense. Fr...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Insomnia: The perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep due to a number ...

Internal medicine: The medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and medical treatment ...

Limb: An arm or a leg.

Medical school: A school with a curriculum leading to a medical degree. The mission of eve...

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.

Multiple system atrophy: See: Shy-Drager syndrome, which is also known as multiple system ...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Neurological: Having to do with the nerves or the nervous system as, for example, a neurol...

Neurologist: A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of th...

Neurology: The medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders o...

NREM sleep: NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep is dreamless sleep. During NREM, the brai...

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for ex...

Paralysis: Loss of voluntary movement (motor function). Paralysis that affects only one mu...

Parkinson disease: A slowly progressive neurologic disease characterized by a fixed inexpr...

Parkinson's disease: A slowly progressive neurologic disease that is characterized by a fi...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Polysomnography: Continuous recording of specific physiologic variables during sleep. Poly...

Prevalence: The proportion of individuals in a population having a disease or characterist...

Rapid eye movement sleep: Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) sleep is the portion of sleep wh...

Recur: To occur again; to return. For example, a symptom, sign, or disease can recur.

REM sleep: REM sleep is the portion of sleep when there are rapid eye movements (REMs).

Respiratory: Having to do with respiration.

Reuptake: The reabsorption of a secreted substance by the cell that originally produced an...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses. Sero...

Shy-Drager syndrome: A progressive disorder of the central and sympathetic nervous systems...

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

Sleep disorders: Any disorder that affects, disrupts, or involves sleep. The most common...

Sleep talking: Talking in one's sleep is considered a normal phenomenon that is of no medi...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Tremor: An abnormal, repetitive shaking movement of the body. Tremors have many causes and...

Tricyclic antidepressants: One of a class of medications used to treat depression. The tri...

Twitching: : Involuntary contractions of groups of muscle fibers. Also known as fasciculat...