What neurological deficit is commonly seen with stroke?

• A. Motor and speech loss
• B. Bradypnea and Cheyne-Stokes respirations
• C. Hypertension
• D. Fever

Answer: (A)

Neurological deficits from stroke most often reflect loss of function in the areas that control movement and language. A sudden weakness or paralysis on one side (motor loss) is common because the stroke often interrupts the corticospinal pathways. If the dominant hemisphere is affected, language centers can be involved, leading to speech difficulties (aphasia or dysarthria). These motor and speech changes appear frequently across many stroke cases and are often the most noticeable and disabling early signs.

While respiratory pattern changes such as Bradypnea or Cheyne-Stokes can occur with brain injury in certain contexts, they are not the typical deficit seen in the majority of stroke patients. Hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke, not a direct post-stroke deficit, and fever is not a defining neurological deficit of stroke.