The eight basic steps of a neurological exam
There are eight basic steps of a comprehensive neurological exam you should know. Get the visual aide now.
Editors:Shelley Jacobs, PhD
Peer reviewers:Franz Wiesbauer, MD MPH Internist
Last update26th Nov 2020
The neurological portion of your assessment of a patient with headache can give you important clues and must be undertaken carefully and diligently. The basics of a neurological examination are covered in the first lessons of the Medmastery Clinical Neurology Essentials Course.
There are eight basic steps of a neurological examination:
- Mental status
- Cranial nerves
- Motor system
- Deep tendon reflexes
- Pathological reflexes
- Sensory system
- Cerebellum
- Gait and station
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Here’s a handy infographic to help you remember them:
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Recommended reading
- Donohoe, CD. 2013. The role of laboratory testing in the evaluation of headache. Med Clin North Am. 97: 217–224. PMID: 23419622
- Ferguson, LW and Gerwin, R. 2005. Clinical Mastery in the Treatment of Myofascial Pain. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
- Fernández-de-las-Peñas, C, Arendt-Nielsen, L, and Gerwin, R. 2010. Tension-Type and Cervicogenic Headache—Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
- Goadsby, PJ and Silberstein, SD. 1997. Headache. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.
- Goadsby, PJ, Silberstein, SD, and Dodick, DW. 2005. Chronic Daily Headache for Clinicians. Hamilton: BC Decker.
- Lester, MS and Liu, BP. 2013. Imaging in the evaluation of headache. Med Clin North Am. 97: 243–265. PMID: 23419624
- Rizzoli, P and Mullally, WJ. 2018. Headache. Am J Med. 131: 17–25. PMID: 28939471
- Silberstein, SD, Lipton, RB, and Goadsby, PJ. 2002. Headache in Clinical Practice. 2nd edition. London: Martin Dunitz.
- Young, WB, Silberstein, SD, Nahas, SJ, et al. 2011. Jefferson Headache Manual. New York: Demos Medical Publishing.
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