Limb apraxia is a common disorder of skilled, purposive movement that is frequently associated with stroke and degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease. Despite evidence that several types of limb apraxia significantly impact functional abilities, surprisingly few studies have focused on development of treatment paradigms. Additionally, although the most disabling types of apraxia reflec...

OBJECTIVES The study aimed at addressing the issue of the precise nature of gait apraxia and the cerebral dysfunction responsible for it. METHODS The case of a patient, affected by a bilateral infarction limited to a portion of the anterior cerebral artery territory is reported. The patient's ability to walk was formally assessed by means of a new standardised test. RESULTS Due to an anomal...

To cite: Cassidy A. Pract Neurol 2016;16:317–322. INTRODUCTION Neurologists are familiar with the standard definition of apraxia: ‘an inability to perform a motor task that cannot be adequately explained by motor weakness, sensory loss or a lack of understanding’. Being a definition of exclusion, this has led to a bewildering number of motor disorders being described as forms of apraxia, despit...

BACKGROUND Spasmus nutans and congenital ocular motor apraxia share clinical characteristics. However, their development in a patient with cerebellar vermian hypoplasia has not been previously described. OBJECTIVE To report spasmus nutans and congenital ocular motor apraxia in a child with cerebellar vermian hypoplasia. DESIGN Case report. SETTING Tertiary-care hospital. Patient A 7-year-...

BACKGROUND An extensive literature describes structural lesions in apraxia, but few studies have used functional neuroimaging. We used positron emission tomography (PET) to characterize relative cerebral glucose metabolism in a 65-year-old, right-handed woman with progressive decline in ability to manipulate objects, write, and articulate speech. OBJECTIVE To characterize functional brain org...

The feeling of acting voluntarily is a fundamental component of human behavior and social life and is usually accompanied by a sense of agency. However, this ability can be impaired in a number of diseases and disorders. An important example is apraxia, a disturbance traditionally defined as a disorder of voluntary skillful movements that often results from frontal-parietal brain damage. The fi...