Final answer:
Decerebrate and decorticate posturing are severe neurological symptoms indicating brain damage, often resulting from traumatic brain injury or other severe brain conditions. Decerebrate posturing affects the brainstem while decorticate affects the cerebral hemispheres and the internal capsule. Both postures require urgent medical attention.
Step-by-step explanation:
Decerebrate and Decorticate Posturing
Decerebrate and decorticate posturing are types of abnormal body postures that indicate severe brain damage. Decerebrate posturing is characterized by the arms being stiffly extended, adducted, and rotated internally, with the wrists pronated and the legs being stiffly extended at the knees with plantar flexion of the feet.
It is often a sign of damage to the area of the brain that controls movements, typically involving the brainstem. Decorticate posturing, on the other hand, is signified by the arms being stiff and bent onto the chest, with the wrists and fingers flexed on the chest, the legs extended and the feet plantar flexed.
Decorticate posturing suggests damage to the areas of the brain, including the cerebral hemispheres and the internal capsule, but not the brainstem.
Signs and symptoms of brain damage that may lead to this posturing include changes in consciousness, seizures, and difficulty with coordination or movement. Common causes of such conditions include traumatic brain injury, stroke, brain tumors, brain infections, and hypoxic or anoxic brain injury.
The parts of the brain affected by decorticate and decerebrate posturing are important for basic bodily functions and coordination, which includes, but is not limited to, the brainstem, cerebellum, and cerebral hemispheres.
The presence of either decerebrate or decorticate posturing in a patient is a very serious sign and typically indicates severe brain damage and the need for immediate medical attention.