Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T05:19:41.639Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ecological implications of limb apraxia: Evidence from mealtime behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2009

Anne L. Foundas
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112 Neurology Service, VA Medical Center, New Orleans, LA 70112
Beth L. Macauley
Affiliation:
Center for Neuropsychological Studies and the Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610
Anastasia M. Raymer
Affiliation:
Center for Neuropsychological Studies and the Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610
Lynn M. Maher
Affiliation:
Center for Neuropsychological Studies and the Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610
Kenneth M. Heilman
Affiliation:
Center for Neuropsychological Studies and the Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610 Neurology Service of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL 32608
Leslie J. Gonzalez Rothi
Affiliation:
Neurology Service of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL 32608 Speech Pathology Service of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL 32608

Abstract

Humans learn skilled acts in order to effectively interact with their environment. A loss of the ability to perform skilled acts is termed apraxia. Apraxia has been thought to be of theoretical interest, but the ecological implications of apraxia are controversial and have not been fully studied. We examined ten patients with unilateral left hemisphere cerebral infarctions (eight of whom were apraxic) and compared their mealtime eating behavior to a group of neurologically normal, age-matched controls. The stroke patients were less efficient in completing the meal. They made more action errors and were less organized in the sequencing of mealtime activities. Because the patients made more errors while using tools than when performing nontool actions, their deficit could not be accounted for by an elemental motor deficit. A positive relationship was found between mealtime action errors and the severity of apraxia. These findings suggest that limb apraxia may adversely influence activities of daily living. (JINS, 1995, I, 62–66.)

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

DeRenzi, E. (1985). Methods of limb apraxia examination and their bearing on the interpretation of the disorder. In Roy, E.A. (Ed.), Neuropsychological Studies of Apraxia and Related Disorders (pp. 4564). Amsterdam: North Holland.Google Scholar
Geschwind, N. (1975). The apraxias: Neural mechanism of disorders of learned movement. American Scientist, 63, 188195.Google ScholarPubMed
Heilman, K. & Rothi, L.J.G. (1993). Apraxia. In Heilman, K.M., and Valenstein, E. (Eds.), Clinical Neuropsychology (3rd ed., pp. 141164). New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kertesz, A. (1982). The Western Aphasia Battery. New York: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar
Liepmann, H. (1900). Das Krankeitsbild der Apraxie (Motorischen Asymbolie). Monatsschrift für Psychiatrie und Neurologie, 8, 1544, 102–132.Google Scholar
Liepmann, H. (1905). Die linke Hemisphare and das Handelns. Müncher Medizinische Wochenschrift, 52, 23222326, 2375–2378.Google Scholar
Mayer, N.H., Reed, E., Schwartz, M.F., Montgomery, M., & Palmer, C. (1990). Buttering a hot cup of coffee: An approach to the study of errors of action in patients with brain damage. In Tupper, D.E. & Cicerone, K.D. (Eds.), The Neuropsychology of Everyday Life, Vol. 2: Assessment and Basic Competencies (pp.259284). Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poeck, K. (1985). Clues to the nature of disruptions to limb praxis. In Roy, E.A. (Ed.), Neuropsychological Studies of Apraxia and Related Disorders (pp. 99110). New York: North Holland.Google Scholar
Rothi, L.J.G., Ochipa, C., & Heilman, K.M. (1991). A cognitive neuropsychological model of limb praxis. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 8, 443458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothi, L.J.G., Raymer, A., Ochipa, C., Maher, L.M., Greenwald, M., & Heilman, K.M. (1992). Florida Apraxia Battery, Experimental Edition.Google Scholar
Roy, E.A. (1983). Neuropsychological perspectives on apraxia and related action disorders. In Magill, R.A. (Ed.), Memory and Control of Action (pp. 293320). Amsterdam: North Holland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, M.F., Reed, E.S., Montgomery, M., Palmer, C., & Mayer, N.H. (1991). The quantitative description of action disorganization after brain damage: A case study. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 8, 381414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundet, K., Finset, A., & Reinvang, I. (1988). Neuropsychological predictors in stroke rehabilitation. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 10, 363377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed