Through examination and assessment of functions controlled by the nervous system, clues to the presence and location of disease within the nervous system are found. Observing the animal is paramount in determining the presence, location, and extent ofany disease process. Many clinically observable neurologic abnormalities are indicative of dysfunction of specific functional components within the nervous system. Clinical signs resulting from dysfunction of the nervous system, however, are rarely pathognomonic for a specific disease process.Unfortunately, "observation" and more importantly interpretation of the observation is "subjective" (adjective existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought (opposed to objective ).-http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/subjective?s=t)Of critical importance is the actual "label" the observer places ("thinks") based on what they see, hear, feel, and in some cases smell. The label, for example, may be "head tilt" or some other medically learned description. This is an important step inclinical diagnosis as an inappropriate "label" will influence subsequent steps in the diagnostic process, and influence subsequent medical communication.
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