Apraxia

Apraxia is a motor disorder that results from brain damage, characterized by an individual's difficulty with performing motor tasks. While apraxia is a disorder of motor planning, it results from damage to specific areas of the cerebrum. Most often, apraxia results from a legion in the left hemisphere, often the result of a stroke, brain injury, or neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's.

There are several types of apraxia. These including ideomotor apraxia, characterized by the ability to perform a task, but are unable to explain how. Conceptual apraxia consists of an inability to conceptualize tasks and complete multistep actions. Constructional apraxia is the inability to construct simple configurations, such as intersecting shapes.

Apraxia of speech (AOS) involves the loss of previously acquired levels of speech, occurring in both children and adults. AOS generally results from a stroke, tumor or other neurological illness. It may or may not be accompanied by aphasia, a language disorder.

Treatment of apraxia generally consists of speech therapy, occupational therapy, or physical therapy. In some occasions, apraxia spontaneously resolves itself, leaving little research into effective treatments. Further, while some patients respond well to therapy, other display little improvement, and occasionally can no longer live independently.