The Different Forms of Apraxia - Coursework Example

FORMS OF APRAXIA (Students Name) (Institution) (Date) Introduction Apraxia is defined as a movement disorder which involves the control and the management of motor skills which occurs in the absence of impaired functioning o the motor skills. The concept of apraxia relates to the fine functioning of the motor skills. Therefore, this is a neurological condition which is normally characterised by the absence of ability to perform activities which a normal person is physically able to do. It’s the duty and responsibility of the brain to coordinate all the functions of the body. Therefore, this condition normally affects the ability of the brain to coordinate and perform the roles of managing the body activities. Normally, the consequences result from brain damages. Some of the most common conditions which lead to the damage of the brain include brain tumour, head injury, stroke among others. Apraxia usually affects the communication process of the rain. It results from the damage of the cerebral hemispheres of the brain. This division is normally responsible for voluntary movements of the body parts. A person suffering from this condition normally experience a difficulty in demonstrating and performing the physical activity intended (Daniels 2000). For example, such a patient has difficulty in following the steps of taking a bath besides willing to engage in the actual; activity. Also, the process of taking the bathe is normally clumsy and not well coordinated in such an individual due to lack of coordination between the brain and the body activities. This paper intends to assess the various forms of apraxia and how such forms can be discussed. Besides, it seeks to develop on the existing body of knowledge to comprehensively discuss on these forms and their effect in the general life of an individual. These forms of apraxia are best explained by the factors which lead to their occurrence and their effect on the ability of an individual to perform normal tasks. Forms of Apraxia IDEOMOTOR APRAXIA Ideomotor apraxia results due to lesions within the inferior parietal lobe which are situated in the lefty hemisphere of the brain. The lesions on this part of brain prevent the effective coordination of the brain and the physical activities. Such patients who suffer from this condition normally tend to be clumsy especially when engaging in the performance of an act. Also, such patients normally perseverate and erroneously engage in the performance of a previous act. There is a deficiency in the coordination between the brain and the body parts relevant in engaging in a particular physical activity (Heilman et al. 2006). Individuals who suffer from this condition normally suffer from a deficiency in trying to perform a particular action via pantomime. This situation equally affects the engagement in any meaningless or meaningful imitation since the individual lacks necessary ability to perform the previous act in the required manner and pattern. One fundamental characteristic of persons who suffer from ideomotor apraxia is the ability to show great difficulty in performing simple versus complex movements. In many situations, these individuals have a problem in integrating the various elements of a complex action in their normal activities (Daniels 2000). For example, a person suffering from this condition may have a problem in waving ‘goodbye’. However, there may be a will and an intention of performing the physical wave sign but the lack of the physical ability. In such cases, these individuals prefer to use the verbal expressions and communication instead of using the physical demonstrations. Ideomotor apraxia leads to making an improved physical movement as a response from a neurological command. The de-link like command processing and actual execution of the command originates from the damage of a particular location in the brain. Essentially, this condition leads to an unusual physical response to a command or lack of response absolutely to the brain commands. The contrast which exists between the physician action and the neurological activities is the presence of the will-power within an individuals and lack of its physical execution. People who suffer from this condition have the will resident within them but the lack of proper physical abilities to execute such functional processes. Therefore, ideomotor apraxia makes a person unable to communicate effectively and be able to engage in physical activities in the required manner. The gap which exists between the neurological activities and the physical activities causes an improper coordination of body activities. This form of apraxia makes an individual deficient of natural abilities related to physical functions. Therefore, it’s regarded as one of the most sensitive and dangerous forms of apraxia due to its absolute consequences on the lifestyle of a person. IDEATIONAL APRAXIA Ideational apraxia results from the damage and disturbances in the temporal sequencing of motor functions. The brain normally coordinates a sequence of activities and plans them in an orderly manner for easy execution. The motor activities respond by aiding in the actual execution of these activities. One fundamental requirement of these sequential and orderly activities relates to the manner of arrangement and orderliness which exist in the architecture of sequential tasks the physical execution of these tasks, therefore, require the ability of the brain to ensure an orderly pattern and sequence of engaging in activities. Ideational or conceptual paraxial is therefore characterised by the inability to perform activities which follow a regular sequence and pattern (Rohrer et al. 2010). Ideational Apraxia results from the disassociation of separate chain of links which aid in an entire movement of body parts. Individuals who suffer from this form of apraxia normally engage in temporal and spatial errors when engaging in activities. One fundamental feature of this condition is that the actual and individual activity may be performed correctly. The only disturbing fact in such individuals is the order of performing of various events. For example, a person who suffers from this form of apraxia may drink from a cup before pouring water into the cup or even puff a cigarette before lighting (Zadikoff & Lang 2005). The confusion in the pattern and in the sequence of doing activity makes the individual fail perform the intended activity effectively. Besides engaging in a confused pattern of doing activities, this condition makes individuals experience difficulties in using actual objects. In most cases, individuals suffering from this condition use objects for a wrong reason not intended. For example, it’s common to see such people use index finger instead of a key in trying to unlock the door (Heilman et al. 2006). They lack the conceptual capacity which directs them to engage in proper activities and in the right sequence of engaging in tasks. Most of this action is normally out of temporal sequence. These individual lack the capacity and ability to access the motor memories which normally aid in performing sequential activities. One common feature of patients suffering from this condition is the fear and hesitant response in performing activities as instructed. This is because they fear to engage in in different tasks besides what is advised. In most cases, such patients opt to use verbal expressions instead of physically engaging in a task. This potentially affects their confidence and their manner in participating in social activities in regards to their incapacitation. UNILATERAL APRAXIA Unilateral or callosal paraxial is normally characterised by the inability of a patient to use the left-hand side in performing the activities. The left hand is incapacitated and equally handles objects in a rather clumsy pattern. This form of apraxia is normally caused by lesions on the anterior corpus callosum. These lesions can also appear on the left frontal motor cortex (Rohrer et al. 2010). Whenever there occur lesions on the corpus callosum or the motor regions, the result leads to a condition known as a disconnection syndrome. Thus mans that the motor regions situated on the right hemisphere fail to gain access to motor memories on the left inferior parietal lobe. Unilateral apraxia normally presents itself with apraxia on the left-hand side and paralysis on the left-hand side. For example, many people who end up suffering from stroke suffer from this form of apraxia. The paralysis makes one side of the body unable to carry out the physical actives due to the disconnect in the chain of communication. Scholars argue that this form of apraxia leads to deficient finger tapping performance, especially on the left-hand side. This, therefore, incapacitates most people with this condition from carrying out any normal physical procedure or process with the use of the left-hand side (Zadikoff & Lang 2005). Many people who suffer from unilateral paraxial have a common tendency of developing a lot of activities around their right hand. They end up growing much ability for the use of the right hand due to the incapacitation of the left-hand side. For example, a person who was not born right handed will have to adopt the use and development of right hand for survival purposes. DRESSING APRAXIA Dressing Apraxia is one of the forms of apraxia which occur due to lesions on the right hemisphere. These lesions normally affect the inferior parietal region and impacts on the general communication between the brain and the dressing conceptualization. This form of apraxia is primarily characterised by difficulties for the patient in putting on clothes. For example, it’s common to see such patients wearing clothes upside down, inside-out or even backwards. There is a deficiency in the ability of the patient to recognise the unusual manner in wearing clothes (Heilman & Watson 2008). This form of apraxia has been significantly attributed to spatial-perceptual abnormalities. In addition, it’s believed that this condition results from body image disturbances which contribute towards the patient developing the unusual perception on the dressing. There is a disconnection in the flow of information and communication in sensory and perception attributes within such a patient (Heilman et al. 2006). CONSTRUCTIONAL APRAXIA Construction apraxia is one of the most common forms in the modern world. It’s a unitary disorder which integrates several aspects and conditions that inhibit normal performance of activities. The condition, just as the former cases, occurs due to lesions and damage on various parts of the brain. The unitary aspect makes this condition have differences depending on the exact part which is destroyed. However, the condition becomes severe when the left side of the brain is damaged since this part integrates a variety of brain functions and activities. This condition can be expressed in a number of ways depending on the region damaged in the brain. In the aspect of drawing, this form of apraxia makes an individual to add unnecessary details in such a drawing. It’s often possible for the patient to scatter the drawing details, disrupt the alignments used for the drawing and come up with the totally different thing in the drawing. The ability of the brain to communicate the required information and to effectively coordinate the constructional ability of the body parts misses in such patients. This, therefore, results in the kind of presentation and uncoordinated representations on the diagrams on the drawing activities in such patients (Heilman et al., 1982). The area damaged by the lesion determines the specific apraxia condition under this unitary model. For example, the right hemisphere responsible for several motor activities and coordination damage on a particular part and side of the brain have a different manner of effect on the body activities. Constructional apraxia has been rated as one of the most common forms of this condition which affect the modern society. Many people can’t engage in activities which require close determination and observation of details due to this condition. Besides, it has affected the manner in which manner people handle the artistic activities to a great extent (Johnson-Frey 2004). Whenever lesions occur in the left hemisphere, the condition results into multiple motor manipulations. It’s common for victims of this condition to experience similar temporal-sequential manipulations as in the case in ideational apraxia. This is due to the disruption of the sequencing of details and neurological communication witnessed in this condition. One thing commonly witnessed in the manner of drawings for these victims relate to the inconsistency of application of drawing details. The side of the brain affected determines the manner of application of details for a victim especially in drawing activities. For example, it’s possible to see only one side of the drawing distorted while the other part remains okay. This usually occurs if the side of the brain affected is responsible for the drawing details within the diagram. Therefore, this form of apraxia majorly depends on the section of the brain why is affected by the lesions. VERBAL APRAXIA Verbal apraxia is normally characterised by a lack of coordination between the mouth and speech. In normal circumstances, the movement of the mouth needs to influence the kind of words which emanate from the mouth. In fact, the movement of the mouth determines speech. Therefore, the sensory network is responsible for coordinating information between the mouth and the brain. There is usually a direct link between neurological processes which aid the communication between the brain and the mouth (Heilman et al., 1982). When this link is cut, then there exist a gap between mouth and brain. This, therefore, makes the process of communication ineffective. This is not the case with people suffering from verbal apraxia. Lack of coordination between the brain and the movement of the mouth affect the production of speech. Therefore, many victims of this condition have difficulty in coordinating the mouth and the speech which come out of the mouth. The mouth movement’s times fail to regard the normal flow of information. People who suffer from this form of apraxia tend to avoid social and public speaking. In fact, most of them avoid any activity which requires them to speak in the public due to their inability to coordinate the mouth and the speech (Johnson-Frey 2004). Further, it influences the communication power of an individual in regards to public participation. OCULOMOTOR APRAXIA Oculomotor paraxial refers to the difficulties in coordination between the eye and the brain. This condition if often characterised by difficulty in moving the eyes. The normal functioning of the eye requires natural and stable movements depending on the direction under focus. This functionality makes the eye a unique organ which requires prompt and quick coordination with the brain. When lesion develops on a given part of the brain, it becomes impossible for the eye movements to be effectively coordinated. The efficiency of the eye depends on the extent of communication and coordination between brain functions and eye functions. This form of apraxia is normally associated with the damage of the sections of the brain responsible for coordinating sight. It’s always essential for the brain to send communication signals and message to facilitate the movement of the eye to a different position. However, when this section of the hemisphere of the brain responsible for this condition is damaged, then the whole process becomes ineffective. Victims of this form of apraxia have a problem especially in viewing bright sights since such viewings require constant movement of the eye. This further affects normal activity such as driving potentials of such victims and their ability to be attentive to smaller details (Heilman et al., 1982). Scholars attribute this form of paraxial to lack of proper neurological responses and coordination with the brain. Therefore, the pertinent ends up suffering from the inability to move the eye. References Daniels, S. K. (2000). Swallowing paraxial: A disorder of the praxis system?. Dysphagia, 15(3), 159-166. Heilman, K. M., & Watson, R. T. (2008). The disconnection apraxias. Cortex, 44(8), 975-982. Heilman, K. M., Rothi, L. J., & Valenstein, E. (1982). Two forms of ideomotor paraxial. Neurology, 32(4), 342-342. Heilman, K. M., Watson, R. T., & Gonzalez-Rothi, L. J. (2006). Limb Apraxias. Johnson-Frey, S. H. (2004). The neural bases of complex tool use in humans. Trends in cognitive sciences, 8(2), 71-78. Rohrer, J. D., Rossor, M. N., & Warren, J. D. (2010). Apraxia in progressive nonfluent aphasia. Journal of neurology, 257(4), 569-574. Zadikoff, C., & Lang, A. E. (2005). Apraxia in movement disorders. Brain, 128(7), 1480-1497. Read More

For example, a person suffering from this condition may have a problem in waving ‘goodbye’. However, there may be a will and an intention of performing the physical wave sign but the lack of the physical ability. In such cases, these individuals prefer to use the verbal expressions and communication instead of using the physical demonstrations. Ideomotor apraxia leads to making an improved physical movement as a response from a neurological command. The de-link like command processing and actual execution of the command originates from the damage of a particular location in the brain.

Essentially, this condition leads to an unusual physical response to a command or lack of response absolutely to the brain commands. The contrast which exists between the physician action and the neurological activities is the presence of the will-power within an individuals and lack of its physical execution. People who suffer from this condition have the will resident within them but the lack of proper physical abilities to execute such functional processes. Therefore, ideomotor apraxia makes a person unable to communicate effectively and be able to engage in physical activities in the required manner.

The gap which exists between the neurological activities and the physical activities causes an improper coordination of body activities. This form of apraxia makes an individual deficient of natural abilities related to physical functions. Therefore, it’s regarded as one of the most sensitive and dangerous forms of apraxia due to its absolute consequences on the lifestyle of a person. IDEATIONAL APRAXIA Ideational apraxia results from the damage and disturbances in the temporal sequencing of motor functions.

The brain normally coordinates a sequence of activities and plans them in an orderly manner for easy execution. The motor activities respond by aiding in the actual execution of these activities. One fundamental requirement of these sequential and orderly activities relates to the manner of arrangement and orderliness which exist in the architecture of sequential tasks the physical execution of these tasks, therefore, require the ability of the brain to ensure an orderly pattern and sequence of engaging in activities.

Ideational or conceptual paraxial is therefore characterised by the inability to perform activities which follow a regular sequence and pattern (Rohrer et al. 2010). Ideational Apraxia results from the disassociation of separate chain of links which aid in an entire movement of body parts. Individuals who suffer from this form of apraxia normally engage in temporal and spatial errors when engaging in activities. One fundamental feature of this condition is that the actual and individual activity may be performed correctly.

The only disturbing fact in such individuals is the order of performing of various events. For example, a person who suffers from this form of apraxia may drink from a cup before pouring water into the cup or even puff a cigarette before lighting (Zadikoff & Lang 2005). The confusion in the pattern and in the sequence of doing activity makes the individual fail perform the intended activity effectively. Besides engaging in a confused pattern of doing activities, this condition makes individuals experience difficulties in using actual objects.

In most cases, individuals suffering from this condition use objects for a wrong reason not intended. For example, it’s common to see such people use index finger instead of a key in trying to unlock the door (Heilman et al. 2006). They lack the conceptual capacity which directs them to engage in proper activities and in the right sequence of engaging in tasks. Most of this action is normally out of temporal sequence. These individual lack the capacity and ability to access the motor memories which normally aid in performing sequential activities.

One common feature of patients suffering from this condition is the fear and hesitant response in performing activities as instructed.

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