Apraxia related with subcortical lesions due to cerebrovascular disease

Acta Neurol Scand. 2010 Jul;122(1):9-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2009.01224.x. Epub 2009 Dec 17.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine whether ideomotor apraxia exists in patients with subcortical ischemic lesions.

Patients and methods: A matched-control, prospective and multi-centered research design was used. Ideomotor apraxia, anxiety and depression were assessed by the Movement Imitation Test and the Hamilton scales, respectively.

Results: Forty two consecutive patients with subcortical ischemic stroke and an equal number of healthy participants, matched in age and sex were included. Paired-sample t-tests showed that patients had significantly more apractic elements in their movements (t = 5.03, P < 0.01), higher anxiety (t = -2.55, P = 0.0014) and depression levels (t = -2.61, P = 0.012) than their healthy matched participants. Participants with higher anxiety and depression scores performed worse on the Movement Imitation Test.

Conclusions: Ischemic damage of subcortical modular systems may affect praxis.

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety / diagnosis
  • Anxiety / etiology
  • Apraxia, Ideomotor / diagnosis*
  • Apraxia, Ideomotor / etiology*
  • Cerebral Infarction / complications*
  • Cerebral Infarction / psychology
  • Depression / diagnosis
  • Depression / etiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Matched-Pair Analysis
  • Neuropsychological Tests