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Medical Definition of Facial paralysis
1. Paralysis of the facial muscles, usually unilateral, due to either a lesion involving the nucleus or the facial nerve peripheral to the nucleus (peripheral facial paralysis) or a supranuclear lesion in the cerebrum or upper brainstem (central facial paralysis). With latter, facial weakness is usually partial and the upper portion of the face is relatively spared, due to bilateral cortical connections. (12 Dec 1998)