Wernicke’s encephalopathy

a neurological disorder caused by a deficiency of vitamin B₁ (thiamine). The principal symptoms are confusion, oculomotor abnormalities (gaze palsy and nystagmus), and ataxia. The disorder is most frequently associated with chronic alcoholism but is also found in cases of pernicious anemia, gastric cancer, and malnutrition. These symptoms are likely to resolve with thiamine treatment, although most individuals then develop severe retrograde and anterograde amnesia as well as impairment in other areas of cognitive functioning, including executive functions (see Korsakoff’s syndrome). Also called cerebral beriberi; Wernicke’s disease. [first described in 1881 by Karl Wernicke]

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Psychology term of the day

February 23rd 2025

inbreeding

n. the mating of individuals that are closely related. Inbreeding increases the risk of perpetuating certain genetic defects in the family, as in consanguineous marriages. Inbreeding within small populations, such as geographically isolated populations, leads to increased frequency of particular mutations within such groups. This fact has been used to demonstrate the founder effect for certain cancers and other disorders. Inbreeding studies have contributed to efforts to identify and test for mutations predisposing to disease in some groups of people. Compare outbreeding.