Causes of Movement Disorders
- Neurological Pathology
- Medications, e.g., neuroleptics
Movement Terminology
Movement disorder (also hyperkinesia, dyskinesia) – excess movement that is unrelated to weakness or spasticity
Hypokinesia (also bradykinesia, akinesia) – lack of movement unrelated to weakness or spasticity; slowed movement; absence of movement
Hypokinesias
Apraxia – difficulty performing learned skilled motor movements
Ideational apraxia – loss of ability to conceptualize, plan, and execute the complex sequences of motor actions involved in the use of tools or otherwise interacting with objects in everyday life
Ideomotor apraxia – inability to correctly imitate hand gestures and voluntarily mime tool use
Holding tics – suppression of tics for short periods of time
Cataplexy – sudden loss of muscle tone while someone is awake; seen in narcolepsy
Freezing phenomenon – transient episodes, usually lasting seconds, in which the motor activity being attempted by an individual is halted
Hypothyroid slowness – slowed movement associated with hypothyroidism
Rigidity – muscle tone disorder resulting in stiff or inflexible muscles
Lead pipe rigidity – the feeling of frozen muscles
Cogwheel rigidity – jerk or clicking muscle motions
Stiffness – muscle stiffness and repeated episodes of painful muscle spasms
Hyperkinesias
Tics – habitual spasmodic contraction of the muscles, most often in the face
Akathesia – general motor restlessness and the urge for continuous movement
Tardive dyskinesia – involuntary specific movements in areas of the face, mouth, or arms; a side-effect of some antipsychotic medications
Ataxia – lack of coordination with voluntary movements (coordination disorder)
Dysmetria – impaired smoothly coordinated movements with speed, distance, or range of motion, e.g., finger-to-nose screen
Nystagmus – coordination disorder of the eyes causing them to overshoot their target
Athetosis – involuntary writhing movements that are slow and rolling
Chorea – repetitive, brief, irregular rapid involuntary movements; often abrupt and unpredictable
Ballismus – involuntary violent flinging of the extremities
Dystonia – sustained involuntary muscle contractions; spasms
Focal dystonia – dystonia in the eyelids, neck muscles, vocal cords, hands, wrists, jaw
Generalized dystonia – dystonia in multiple parts of the body resulting in impaired function, e.g., tip-toe walking
Hyperekplexia – excessive startle reaction resulting in generalized stiffness
Jumping disorder – severe startle reaction, e.g., jumping, screaming, flailing, hitting, throwing objects
Myoclonus – muscle jerks and twitches; can be mild/severe, slow/quick, rhythmic/nonrhythmic; appears the same as tics physically