Cerebral palsy is a general term for non-progressive disorders of movement and posture resulting from damage to the brain in the later months of pregnancy, during birth, in the newborn period or in early child years. It is a term used to describe a group of chronic disorders impairing control of movement that appear in the first few years of life and generally do not worsen over time.

Spastic cerebral palsy: Spastic paralysis deals with abnormal stiffness and contraction of groups of muscles. There are three major classifications in the Spastic group.

• Plegia: Meaning paralyzed or weak.
• Diplegia: All four limbs are affected, the legs more severely than the arms.
• Hemiplegia: The limbs on only one side of the body are affected, and the arm is usually worse than the leg.

Hemiparetic tremors: Uncontrollable shaking affects the limbs on one side of the body.

Quadriplegia: All four limbs are severely affected and not necessarily symmetrically.

Athetoid, or dyskinetic, cerebral palsy: Uncontrolled, slow, writhing movements characterize this form of cerebral palsy. The hands are usually affected, as with the feet, arms, or legs. Sometimes the muscles of the face and tongue are affected, causes drooling to occur. Athetoid cerebral palsy affects about 10 to 20 percent of cerebral palsy patients. Includes Athetosis.

Dysarthria: A condition that affects the muscles needed for speech.

Ataxic cerebral palsy: Atoxia is the form that affects coordination, the sense of balance and depth perception. It is more rare than the other forms. Its characteristics usually affect the patient's ability to walk.

Strabismus: A condition where there is a difference in the left and right eye muscles, which results in a misalignment. It may cause double vision. If the affected person is young enough, the brain may adapt to the condition.

Hemianopia: Defective vision or blindness that impairs the normal field of vision of one eye.

Stereognosia: Difficulty perceiving and identifying objects using the sense of touch.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: asphyxia severely lowers the supply of oxygen to the infant's brain for lengthy periods, the child may develop brain damage. A significant proportion of babies with this type of brain damage die, and others may develop cerebral palsy, which is then often accompanied by mental impairment and seizures

Atrophy: the weakening or deterioration of muscles that can follow lack of use.

Athetosis: involuntary writhing of hands and sometimes feet

Ataxia: inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements

basal ganglia: four masses of "gray matter" nerve tissue in the brain

Baclofen: a drug typically prescribed to people with C.P. It acts as a general relaxant of the brain and body. It blocks signals sent from the spinal cord to contract the muscles.

Cerebral: refers to the cerebrum, the large hemispheres of the brain that control movement, sensation, and higher mental functions

Contracture: shortening of muscle or tendon - muscles become fixed in a rigid and abnormal position.

Clonus: rapid alternation of contraction and partial relaxation of muscle

Dantrolene is a drug typically prescribed to people with C.P. It interferes with the process of muscle contraction

Diplegia: motor weakness in lower extremities on both sides of the body

Dorsal: relating to the back

Drugs: the most common prescribed drugs for C.P. patients are diazepam, baclofen and dantrolene.

Dura mater: fibrous membrane around the brain and spinal cord

Dystonia: abnormal tone (tension or stiffness) in muscles

Electromyography: measurement of electrical activity in muscle, used to diagnose neuromuscular disorders

Fascia: a sheet of connective tissue covering or binding body structures

Fentanyl: a narcotic analgesic used to relieve pain

Flexion: bending of joint

Flexor: muscle that bends (flexes) a body part

Hemiplegia: motor weakness on one side of the body

Hyperextension: extension (increasing the angle between bones of a joint) to a greater degree than normal

Lamina: flattened portion at back of vertebral arch

Laminectomy: surgical removal of lamina

Lumbar: referring to the area of the spine or back between the ribs and pelvis

MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; like computerized axial tomography (CAT scan) except that instead of radiation, it uses natural magnetism in the body to produce a clear image of the structure being scanned

Muscle release: a surgical technique that involves cutting tendons or muscle to reduce muscle tightness

Palsy: partial or complete paralysis of muscles

Paralysis: motor weakness in a muscle

Quadriplegia: motor weakness in both arms and both legs

Reciprocal movement: movement in the opposite direction

Rhizotomy: severing of spinal nerve roots to relieve spasticity

Scoliosis: lateral curvature of the spine

Selective dorsal root rhizotomy: aims to reduce spasticity in the legs by reducing the amount of stimulation that reaches leg muscles via nerves. In the procedure, doctors try to locate and selectively sever overactivated nerves controlling leg muscles.

Spastic: affected by spasms, or involuntary abnormal contraction of muscle

Spinous process: part of vertebra that protrudes under the skin of the back

Subcutaneous: beneath the skin

Subluxation: partial dislocation, as in bones of a joint

Tendon release: sectioning of tendon to treat contracture

Tonic reflex: a kind of abnormal reflex

Ultrasound: diagnostic technique for imaging internal body structures

Ventral: located on or near the lower front of the body, the abdominal area