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Araxia is a neurological disorder characterized by the inability or difficulty to perform known movements on command. Depending on the type of apraxia, sufferers have difficulty fastening buttons, sticking out their tongue, or uttering words. What is apraxia and what are its causes? How to recognize the symptoms of the disease and what is its treatment?
Apraxiaisneurological disorder , the essence of which is the inability or difficulty in performing learned movements on a command, while understanding the command, the will to do it exercise and lack of impaired motor coordination, decreased sensation and muscle strength.
Apraxia - causes. What are the risk factors for developing apraxia?
The cause of apraxia is damage to the brain, and more specifically to the neural pathways in the brain that organize motor activities. These types of injuries are most often the result of traumas, strokes, tumors and inflammation of the brain. They are also found in diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, Huntington's disease, and cortico-basal degeneration (CBD).
Apraxia - types and symptoms of apraxia
Imaginary (ideational) apaxia
A person suffering from mental apraxia performs all individual movements correctly. The problem arises when he tries to put them together. Then he seems extremely distracted and may have a problem, e.g. with clothes, because, for example, he treats the trouser legs as a shirt sleeve and tries to put the pants on his arms, and vice versa - puts his leg in the shirt sleeve. In turn, e.g. when ordered to light a cigarette, he lights a match and then does not know what to do with it.
The pictorial form of apraxia most often occurs in people with atherosclerosis, senile dementia and progressive palsy.
Motor apraxia (motor, kinetic limb apraxia)
Motor apaxia is the result of damage to the back of the frontal lobe of the brain (the premotor region), and the problems occur on the side of the body opposite to the brain damage. The patient is able to perform all motor actions, although he performs them clumsily and hesitantly - as if he was performing them for the first time in his life.
Imaginary-motor apaxia(ideomotor)
Mixed apaxia is the most frequently diagnosed variant of the disease in question. The patient knows how to perform a given activity, but the process is still disturbed - the patient's movements are clumsy and resistant. He gives the impression that he has forgotten how to do what.
Oro-facial apraxia
Orofacial apraxia is related to the paresis of the facial and lingual nerves, therefore it is defined as the inability to perform (or imitate) movements in the facial muscles. Therefore, the patient cannot, for example, lick his lips, whistle or show his tongue on command.
Apraxia of Speach
Apraxia of speech is a speech disorder, the essence of which is the difficulty in initiating and performing the movements necessary for articulation, although there are no physical contraindications for speaking. Then there are repeated attempts to pronounce words, omitting consonants at the beginning and end of words, speech inconsistency.
Speech apraxia is the result of damage to the part of the brain that controls the ability to speak, which is why it is most often diagnosed in patients with stroke or brain tumors. During childhood, it may be the result of a disruption in communication between the brain and the muscles used to speak.
Ocular apraxia
Ocular apaxia is a disorder of horizontal eye movements in children around 1 year of age, where all vertical eye movements are normal. Ocular apaxia is usually a symptom of delayed brain maturation, although it may also be associated with other neurological, developmental, degenerative, or progressive metabolic disorders. Symptoms of ocular apraxia usually disappear in the second decade of life.
Apraxia - diagnostics
In order to diagnose the disease, apart from an interview with the patient's family, which is very helpful in making the initial diagnosis, imaging examinations of the nervous system are performed, i.e. computed tomography and cerebral arteriography. Final diagnosis is made on the basis of the results of tests aimed at examining the cognitive processes of patients with brain damage.
Araxia - treatment and prognosis
Treatment of apraxia depends on what underlying condition is responsible for the disorder. Therefore, a wide range of treatment methods can be used: from pharmacological treatment to surgery. Some illnesses are incurable. In these cases, long-term rehabilitation is necessary.
The prognosis of apraxia depends primarily on the severity and type of the disease, vthe course of which symptoms of apraxia developed. In most cases, the prognosis is unfavorable because the disease is often progressive.