Lesson 1Mental status and language assessment: orientation, attention, naming, repetition, comprehension tests for aphasia detectionFocuses on quick bedside check of awareness, orientation, attention, memory, and language areas, including naming, repeating, fluency, and understanding, to spot aphasia, confusion, and mild thinking problems.
Level of consciousness and arousalOrientation and short‑term memoryAttention and working memory testsNaming, repetition, and fluencyComprehension and command followingLesson 2Special bedside tests: brief seizure mimic assessments (postictal confusion, tongue biting, incontinence), TIA mimics, and orthostatic vital signsReviews targeted bedside actions to spot seizure and TIA look-alikes, including after-seizure signs, tongue injury, loss of bladder control, mind-related features, and standing vital signs, helping separate real vascular events from others.
Postictal confusion and recovery profileTongue biting and incontinence cluesFeatures suggesting psychogenic eventsScreening for common TIA mimicsOrthostatic blood pressure and pulseLesson 3Sensory exam: pinprick/light touch, proprioception, cortical sensory signs, and sensory extinction/neglect testingCovers bedside testing of main and cortical feeling senses, including pinprick, light touch, vibration, position sense, writing recognition, and ignoring, stressing patterns that separate peripheral, spinal, brainstem, and cortical lesions.
Pinprick and light touch techniqueVibration and joint position senseTesting graphesthesia and stereognosisDetecting extinction and neglectPatterns of sensory level and hemibody lossLesson 4Cranial nerve exam targeted to this presentation: facial symmetry, dysarthria vs aphasia, gaze, visual fields (confrontation), and pupillary assessmentDetails a targeted cranial nerve check for suspected stroke, including face symmetry, speech trouble versus language loss, eye movements, visual fields by facing, and pupils, stressing quick methods and key localisation patterns.
Rapid facial symmetry assessmentDistinguishing dysarthria from aphasiaBedside gaze and eye movement testingConfrontation visual field techniquesPupillary size, reactivity, and anisocoriaLesson 5How to record focused exam findings clearly and translate into localisation statementsExplains how to organise focused neurological findings, use standard words, and turn raw notes into short localisation statements that guide diagnosis lists, scan choices, and urgent care decisions.
Standard neurologic note structureKey normal and abnormal exam phrasesLinking signs to lesion localisationWriting one‑line localisation summariesLesson 6Gait and balance assessment: timed gait, tandem walk, and assessment for fall risk or intermittent collapseProvides a structured way to check walking and balance, including timed walks, side-by-side gait, balance test, and watching for freezing, unsteadiness, or falling, to gauge fall risk and localise cerebellum, feeling, or front brain walk issues.
Observation of stance and initiationTimed gait and turning assessmentTandem walk and Romberg testingIdentifying ataxic and frontal gaitsScreening for intermittent collapseLesson 7Motor exam: tone, power grading, focal weakness patterns, pronator drift, and rapid bedside tests for subtle hemiparesisOutlines a targeted motor exam stressing muscle tone, strength grading, pronator drift, quick strength checks, and mild unevenness, with patterns that separate upper from lower motor neuron weakness and mind-related disorders.
Assessing bulk and involuntary movementsGrading power using MRC scaleEvaluating tone and spastic catchPronator drift and orbiting testsRapid screening for subtle hemiparesisLesson 8Coordination and cerebellar testing: finger-nose, heel-shin, dysdiadochokinesia and interpretation in focal cortical vs cerebellar causesDescribes bedside coordination testing with finger-nose-finger, heel-knee-shin, quick alternating moves, and rebound, and explains how to separate cerebellum, feeling, and cortical causes of limb unsteadiness.
Finger‑nose‑finger performance errorsHeel‑knee‑shin and truncal ataxiaRapid alternating movement testingRebound and overshoot phenomenaDifferentiating sensory from cerebellar ataxia
