CBGD NetworkCBGD Network

  Features and Glossary
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Abulia Functional errors of omission: failing to perform activities to meet basic human needs:
inability to make decisions; lack of will or willpower.
Acalculia inability to do simple arithmetical calculations
Anomia inability to recall or recognize names of objects
Aphasia loss of power of expression by speech, writing, or signs and/or loss of comprehension of spoken language or written language due to brain injury or pathology
Apraxia loss of ability to carry out familiar, purposeful movements in the absence of paralysis or other motor or sensory impairments, especially the inability to make proper use of an object
Apraxic agraphia inability to express oneself in writing due to apraxia
Asimultanaanosia Inability to visually integrate the components of ordinarily complex scene into a coherent whole
Atopoaraphaonosia inability to recognize familiar faces
Aural comprehension understanding of stimuli perceived by the ear
Constructional praxis inability to copy simple drawings or reproduce patterns of blocks or matchstick constructions
Dysarthria imperfect articulation of speech due to muscular weakness resulting from damage to the central or peripheral nervous system
Echolalia stereotyped repetition of another person's words or phrases
Executive function ability to set a goal, make decisions, and implement appropriate activities towards meeting that goal.
Ocular apraxia inability to voluntarily direct their gaze to a target of visual interest
Optic ataxia the inability to benefit from visual guidance in reaching for an object
Paraphasia speech defect characterized by disorderly arrangement of spoken words
Phonemic speech sounds that are the basic units of speech (i.e. "leviator' instead of 'elevator;' or .grontologs" instead of "gerontology")
Praxis the performance of an action; "doing"
Prosody the variations in stress, pitch, and rhythms of speech that convey meanings
Prosopagnos'ia inability to recognize faces
Semantic paraphasia substituting a similar word for an object, i.e., "staple" for 'paper clip' (Caselli, 1995, p. 3)
Semantic precision use of words appropriate or significant to the meaning of the intended communication. i.e. substituting "machine" for "automobile".
Verbal memory ability to remember speech
Visual memory Ability to remember what is seen


We recognize that the word dementia, as defined by Webster, has many people associated with CBGD deeply concerned. Dementia, in the form of memory or intellect loss is not as prevalent in CBGD patients as it is with Alzheimer’s or some other similar brain diseases.

Geri Hall has a much more acceptable definition of dementia. The word dementia “describes the set of symptoms that occur when the cerebral cortex, the thinking, acting, doing part of the brain is damaged permanently. Symptoms may or may not include memory loss, judgment, consciousness and orientation, visual loss, difficulty in motor planning, use of language, behavior and intellect.

With this understanding, the word dementia is much more acceptable to me considering the degree of dementia discernible in my wife Barbara’s behavior in the latter days of her illness.

Alan G. McIlvaine