Did You Flunk Mime Class? This Could Be Why.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the phenomenon of apraxia, particularly in relation to parietal lobe damage and its implications for intentional movements. Participants explore the nature of apraxia, its occurrence in stroke patients, and the underlying neurological mechanisms involved.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant cites a book describing apraxia as a loss of intentional movements due to parietal lobe damage, noting that patients can perform actions automatically but struggle to do so on command.
  • Another participant mentions that apraxia is common in right stroke patients, suggesting a link between brain injury and observed behaviors.
  • A later reply highlights the complexity of the issue, emphasizing that the challenge lies in transitioning from the concept of an action to its execution, despite the ability to perform the action in natural contexts.
  • One participant proposes that the existence of multiple pathways in the brain for executing tasks might explain the observed behaviors in apraxia patients.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying views on the mechanisms of apraxia and its implications, indicating that multiple competing perspectives remain without a clear consensus.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not address specific assumptions about the neurological pathways involved in apraxia or the definitions of related terms, leaving these aspects unresolved.

zoobyshoe
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Reading in a book called Introduction To Neuropsychology by J. Graham Beaumont, I found this symptom of a certain kind of parietal lobe damage that I'd never heard of before:

"Apraxia

Certain apraxias (the loss of intentional movements) may arise from parietal lesions. These may occur in the absence of paralysis or of any impairment of sensory or motor function. They may relate to almost any kind of purposeful movement, although gross proximal movement of the body and limbs are more commonly affected. However, intentional movements of the face , tapping and complex manual sequences do not escape impairment. The patient is unable to organize some motor task if he must start from the most abstract description of that task. In other words, he may be perfectly able to carry out some movement automatically, or in the context of everyday life, such as drinking from a cup, or striking a match, but asked to demonstrate how to drink from a cup or strike a match, the patient is quite unable to do so. Sometimes he may find it possible if he has the relevant object to act as a cue, but he will fail if asked to perform the action without a cup or a match to act as a trigger. "

p. 102
 
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Hi,

Apraxia are very common with Right stroke patients (left brain injured).
We are seeing every day these weird behaviours.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/apraxia/apraxia.htm
 
Thanks for the link.

It's kind of amazing that the problem is not that they can't do certain things, but that they can't do them on command. They aren't able to get from the concept of the action to the action, despite the fact they can perform the action when it comes up naturally. A very complex problem.
 
Wouldn't that simply suggest that the brain has more then one pathway for the execution of tasks?