Introduction to Symptoms of Neurologic Disorders

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:

• Agnosia

• Amnesia

• Aphasia

• Apraxia

• Ataxia

• Auras (eg, visual, olfactory), as occur in seizures, migraines, or encephalitis

• Bradykinesia

• Delirium

• Dementia

• Dysarthria (eg, due to stroke or cranial nerve palsies)

• Dysphagia

• Dystonia

• Excessive daytime sleepiness

• Headache

• Insomnia

• Involuntary movements (eg, chorea, myoclonus, tics)

• Memory loss

• Muscle cramps

• Muscle stiffness or rigidity (as occurs in Parkinson disease or stiff man syndrome)

• Numbness or other sensory deficits

• Obtundation or coma

• Seizures

• Snoring

• Tremor

• Vertigo

• Vision loss, blurring, scotomata (as occur with migraines), or diplopia

• Weakness