Encephalitis is inflammation of which tissue?

• A. Meninges
• B. Spinal cord
• C. Brain tissue
• D. Blood vessels

Answer: (C)

Encephalitis means inflammation of the brain tissue itself (the brain parenchyma). This is why the correct description focuses on the brain rather than other structures. Inflammation confined to the meninges is meningitis, inflammation of the spinal cord is myelitis, and inflammation of the blood vessels is vasculitis. When brain tissue is inflamed, patients typically have altered mental status, seizures, or focal neurological deficits because the neurons and brain networks are directly affected. Meningitis would present with meningeal signs like severe headache and neck stiffness, myelitis with weakness or sensory loss at and below a certain level, and vasculitis with issues related to blood flow such as stroke symptoms. So, brain tissue is the appropriate tissue involved in encephalitis.