B

Benign

A tumour that is not cancerous.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

A balance disorder caused by particles trapped in the semicircular canals which form part of the balance organs. These particles are usually crystals that have become detached from other parts of the inner ear. As the name indicates, the vertigo, which can be intense, comes on suddenly following certain movements of the head and comes and goes as clusters of attacks, and may have been present for many years.

Biopsy

Removal of a small piece of living tissue from a part of the body for microscopic examination.

Brain abscess

A collection of pus surrounded by damaged and inflamed tissue in the brain caused by an infection.

Brain contusions

Bruises of the brain that can be seen on CT brain scans.

Brain haemorrhage

Bleeding from a cerebral artery into the tissue of the brain.

Brainstem

A stalk of nerve cells and fibres that links the lowest part of the brain to the spinal cord.

Broad spectrum

This term is usedfor drugs that have a range of activityagainst a variety of conditions, forexample, broad spectrum antibiotics are active against a wide variety of bacterial infections.

Broca’s aphasia

A form of nonfluent aphasia characterised by slow and ‘telegrammatic’ speech, where key words are spoken, often in the wrong order, but the words that would usually link them into a sentence or phrase are missing. It is named after the French neurologist, Broca, who first associated this form of aphasia with damage to the left, frontal area of the brain.

Burr hole

A 1cm-diameter hole cut in the skull using a drill.

Basal ganglia

A group of structures and nuclei in the brain which help control movement.

Benign essential tremor

A tremulous condition. Unlike Parkinsonian tremor it gets worse when the person tries to do something.

Bradykinesia

Slowness of movement.