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Concept
Apraxia
Summary
Apraxia is a motor disorder caused by damage to the brain (specifically the posterior parietal cortex or corpus callosum), which causes difficulty with motor planning to perform tasks or movements. The nature of the damage determines the disorder's severity, and the absence of sensory loss or paralysis helps to explain the level of difficulty. Children may be born with apraxia; its cause is unknown, and symptoms are usually noticed in the early stages of development. Apraxia occurring later in life, known as acquired apraxia, is typically caused by traumatic brain injury, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, brain tumor, or other neurodegenerative disorders. The multiple types of apraxia are categorized by the specific ability and/or body part affected.
The term "apraxia" comes from the Greek ἀ- a- ("without") and πρᾶξις praxis ("action").
The several types of apraxia include:
Apraxia of speech (AOS) is having difficulty planning and coordinating the movements necessary for speech (e.g. potato=totapo, topato). AOS can independently occur without issues in areas such as verbal comprehension, reading comprehension, writing, articulation, or prosody.
Buccofacial or orofacial apraxia, the most common type of apraxia, is the inability to carry out facial movements on demand. For example, an inability to lick one's lips, wink, or whistle when requested to do so. This suggests an inability to carry out volitional movements of the tongue, cheeks, lips, pharynx, or larynx on command.
Constructional apraxia is the inability to draw, construct, or copy simple configurations, such as intersecting shapes. These patients have difficulty copying a simple diagram or drawing basic shapes.
Gait apraxia is the loss of ability to have normal function of the lower limbs such as walking. This is not due to loss of motor or sensory functions.
Ideational/conceptual apraxia is having an inability to conceptualize a task and impaired ability to complete multistep actions. This form of apraxia consists of an inability to select and carry out an appropriate motor program.
Official source
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