Brain Diseases

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Images
• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Patient Handouts

Summary

The brain is the control center of the body. It controls thoughts, memory, speech, and movement. It regulates the function of many organs. When the brain is healthy, it works quickly and automatically. However, when problems occur, the results can be devastating.

Inflammation in the brain can lead to problems such as vision loss, weakness and paralysis. Loss of brain cells, which happens if you suffer a stroke, can affect your ability to think clearly. Brain tumors can also press on nerves and affect brain function. Some brain diseases are genetic. And we do not know what causes some brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

The symptoms of brain diseases vary widely depending on the specific problem. In some cases, damage is permanent. In other cases, treatments such as surgery, medicines, or physical therapy can correct the source of the problem or improve symptoms.

Start Here

• Brain Basics: Know Your Brain (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Analysis (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Computed Tomography (CT) -- Head (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) -- Head (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Magnetic Resonance, Functional (fMRI) -- Brain (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Neurological Diagnostic Tests and Procedures (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• About Neurointerventions (Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery)
• Intracranial Hypertension: Medication and Surgery (Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation)

Specifics

• Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) Also in Spanish
• Brain Lesions (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Central Pontine Myelinolysis (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Cerebral Atrophy (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Encephalopathy (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Hepatic Encephalopathy (American Liver Foundation)
• Klüver-Bucy Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Neuronal Migration Disorders (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Periventricular Leukomalacia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Porencephaly (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Pseudotumor Cerebri (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Pseudotumor Cerebri (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• What Is IH (Intracranial Hypertension)? (Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation)

Genetics

• Genetics Home Reference: acute necrotizing encephalopathy type 1 (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: biotin-thiamine-responsive basal ganglia disease (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: COL4A1-related brain small-vessel disease (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: familial porencephaly (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy (National Library of Medicine)

Images

• Craniotomy - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Videos and Tutorials

• Athetosis resulting from basal ganglia injury (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Brain components (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Brain Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: For Difficult-to-Model Brain Diseases, Brain Organoids Come to the Rescue.
• Article: Biological characteristics of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging of cerebral alveolar echinococcosis.
• Article: Cerebellar Cortex as a Therapeutic Target for Neurostimulation.
• Brain Diseases -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Brain and Nervous System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Brain Facts: Glossary (Society for Neuroscience) - PDF
• Your Brain and Nervous System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Basal ganglia dysfunction (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Brain abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Brain surgery (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Central pontine myelinolysis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) collection (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• EEG (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hepatic encephalopathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Pseudotumor cerebri (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish