Category: E

Originally from the greek epi (on, upon, on top of) and genesis (origin); the theory that the embryo develops progressively by stages, forming structures that were not originally present in the ovum or the sperm. The concept has been extended to other areas of medicine, with somewhat different meanings. Some of the other meanings are…

In psychiatry, the study of the incidence, distribution, prevalence, and control of mental disorders in a given population. Common terms in epidemiology are: a) Endemic: Native to or restricted to a particular area. b) Epidemic: The outbreak of a disorder that affects significant numbers of persons in a given population at any time. c) Pandemic:…

This study was initiated in response to the 1977 report of the president’s commission on mental health. The purpose was to collect data on the prevalence and incidence of mental disorders and on the use of, and need for, services by the mentally ill. Research teams at five universities (yale university, johns hopkins university, washington…

Also called mass psychogenic illness; the development of symptoms in a group of persons in response to a stimulus in a closed environment, such as the development of breathing difficulties in students after exposure to nontoxic fumes at their school.  

The fear of insects.  

The right or claim to something. In health law, the term entitlement programs refers to legislatively defined rights to health care, such as medicare and medicaid programs. In psychodynamic psychiatry, entitlement usually refers to an unreasonable expectation or unfounded claim. An example is a person with narcissistic personality disorder who feels deserving of preferred status…

An inhibitor of catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) used as an adjunct to carbidopa-levodopa therapy in the treatment of parkinson’s disease for patients who experience the signs and symptoms of end-of-dose “wearing-off.” Entacapone primarily inhibits the peripheral metabolism of levodopa by COMT, allowing greater and more sustained levels of levodopa to penetrate the brain, where it can be…

Endogenous opioid peptide found in the brain that may serve as a neurotransmitter. Substance produced in the brain that acts opiate-like and produces analgesia. Drugs which cause the activities of the central nervous system to slow down. A naturally occurring protein that has a morphinelike activity. A class of hormones produced in the brain that…

A memory trace; a neurophysiological process that accounts for persistence of memory. A pattern or trace that is theoretically left in the brain after a mental process takes place. The physiological basis of a memory in the central nervous system.  

The various forms of schizophrenia and mood disorders and primary degenerative disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) that, so far as it is known, arise within the organism itself. This term is becoming increasingly obsolete as the neurobiological basis of many psychiatric disorders is being established. Hence, most psychiatric disorders will be found to…