Motor disorders
Introduction
MOTOR BEHAVIOR (CONATION): the aspect of the
psyche that includes impulses, motivations, wishes,
drives, instincts, and cravings, as expressed by a
person's behavior or motor activity.
Disorders
1.Echopraxia
2.Catatonia
3.Negativism
4.Cataplexy
5.Stereotypy
6.Mannerism
7.Automatism
8.Command automatism
9.Mutism
10.Overactivity
11.Hypoactivity
12.Mimicry
13.Aggression
14.Acting out
15.Abulia
Echopraxia
Echopraxia: pathological imitation of movements of one
person by another
Catatonia
Catatonia: motor anomalies in nonorganic disorders (as opposed to disturbances of
consciousness and motor activity secondary to organic pathology)
Classifications of catatonia
a. Catalepsy: general term for an immobile position that is
constantly maintained
b. Catatonic excitement: agitated, purposeless motor activity,
uninfluenced by external stimuli
c. Catatonic stupor: markedly slowed motor activity, often to
point of immobility and seeming unawareness of surroundings
d. Catatonic rigidity: voluntary assumption of a rigid posture,
held against all efforts to be moved
e. Catatonic posturing: voluntary assumption of an inappro-
priate or bizarre posture, generally maintained for
long periods of time
f. Cerea flexibilitas (waxy flexibility): the person can be molded
into a position that is then maintained; when the examiner moves
the person's limb, the limb feels as if it were made of wax
Negativism
Negativism: motiveless
resistance to all
attempts
to be moved or
to all instructions
Cataplexy
Cataplexy: temporary loss of muscle tone
and weakness precipitated by a variety of
emotional states
Cataplexy
Stereotypy
Stereotypy: repetitive fixed pattern of
physical action or speech
Mannerism
Mannerism: ingrained, habitual involuntary
movement
Automatism
Automatism: automatic performance of an act
or acts gener- ally representative of
unconscious symbolic activity
Command automatism
Command automatism: automatic
following of suggestions (also automatic
obedience)
Mutism
Mutism: voicelessness without structural
abnormalities
Overactivity
a. Psychomotor agitation: excessive motor and cognitive
overactivity, usually nonproductive and in response to inner tension
b. Hyperactivity (hyperkinesis): restless, aggressive, destructive
activity, often associated with some underlying brain pathology
c. Tic: involuntary, spasmodic motor movement
d. Sleepwalking (somnambulism): motor activity
during sleep
e. Akathisia: subjective feeling of muscular tension
secondary to antipsychotic or other medication,
which can cause restlessness, pacing, repeated
sitting and standing; can be mistaken for psychotic
agitation
Tic disorder
Sleep walking
f. Compulsion: uncontrollable impulse to perform
an act repetitively
i. Dipsomania: compulsion to drink alcohol
ii. Kleptomania: compulsion to steal
iii. Nymphomania: excessive and compulsive need for co tus in a woman
iv. Satyriasis: excessive and compulsive need for coitus in a man
v. Trichotillomania: compulsion to pull out one's hair
vi. Ritual: automatic activity, compulsive in nature, anxi ety-reducing in origin
g. Ataxia: failure of muscle coordination;
irregularity
of muscle action
h. Polyphagia: pathological overeating
Hypoactivity
Hypoactivity (hypokinesis): decreased motor and
cognitive activity,
as in psychomotor retardation; visible slowing
thought,
Speech, and movements
Mimicry
Mimicry: simple, imitative
motor activity of childhood
Agression
Aggression: forceful goal-directed action that may
be verbual or physical; the motor counterpart of
the affect of rage, anger or hostility
Acting out
Acting out: direct expression of an
unconscious fantasy is lived out
impulsively in behavior
Abulia
Abulia: reduced impulse to act and think,
associated with indifference about consequences
of action; association with neurological deficit
Reference
CONCISE TEXTBOOK OF CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY
HAROLD I. KAPLAN, M.D
BENJAMIN SADOCK ,M
