praxis-, -praxsis, -praxia, -praxic, -praxi-

A former term for radiology or the taking of X-rays: Medical technicians once used actinopraxis to make radiation examinations.

The inability to complete a bodily movement because of a failure to recognize and to interpret sensory information upon which its performance depends: "The player attempted to swing the baseball bat and hit the baseball but was unable to do so because she experienced agnostic apraxia and could not perceive how close the ball was to her."

The inability to carry out spontaneous movements: "His akinetic apraxia limited his ability to only move his left hand because his brain could not interpret the afferent movement information or the nerves that conducted impulses from the periphery (outer surface) of his body to his brain or spinal cord."

The inability to produce a movement on command because it is forgotten, although the ability to perform the movement is present: "The woman's amnesic apraxia was demonstrated when she could do the same movements of her fingers and hands that the doctor did; however, when she was told to move her fingers and hands again when the physician didn't do it, she couldn't remember how to repeat the actions."

The loss of the ability to swallow: "The ailment of aphagopraxia may be caused by the narrowing of the esophagus as a result of a physical ailment; such as, cancer or injury."

"Aphagopraxia is also defined as a disturbance to the nervous control of the swallowing mechanism by a stroke or some kind of motor neurone disease."

A loss of the ability to carry out familiar, purposeful movements even when there is no paralysis or other motor or sensory impairments: William experienced apraxia that included his inability to perform movements that are necessary to use objects properly, even when the names and purposes of the objects were known and understood.

A severe speech disorder shown by an inability to speak or a severe struggle to say something clearly: "Apraxia of speech is noticed when the oral-motor muscles of a patient don't or can't normally respond to commands from the brain or when the brain can't normally send such commands."

"Even when a person can understand what another person says, if he has apraxia of speech, he can't physically position his own speech muscles and the sequence of muscle movements that are necessary to produce understandable words or to say anything so others can recognize what he is trying to communicate."

Purposeless repetition of simple movements: "The patient's autoechopraxias consisted of repetitive hand shakings or waving, body rocking, head banging, putting things in her mouth, biting herself, picking at her skin, and hitting herself several times."

The German equivalent of Chiropraktik (English, chiropractic): "The lady's sister, who lives in Germany, told her that she injured her back and had to go to a cheiropraxis clinic for treatment."

The inability of a person to draw from memory or from a model, or to construct simple or complex shapes with matchsticks or building blocks: "A person with constructional apraxia usually can't accomplish certain activities that involve building, assembling, and drawing."

"For those who have a mild form of constructional apraxia only the ability to draw in perspective (appearance of objects to the observer) may be lost while the capacity to make gestures and to recognize geometric symbols can be remembered."

A disorder of an ability to plan and to execute motor activities that occurs in developing children: "Developmental apraxia is thought to be a result of central nervous system immaturity that exists in youngsters."

Being unable to move an individual finger when asked to do it even when there is no paralysis: "When the woman with digital apraxia was told to hold up her index finger, she couldn't do it."

Being incapable of dressing oneself because of the person's inadequate knowledge of the spacial relations of his or her body: "As the young woman was dressing to get ready to go out, she was having difficulty with dressing apraxia; for example, simply putting on her slacks was confusing her."

1. Poor coordination displayed by some children, diagnosed by illegible handwriting and the inability to catch a ball or to clap their hands while the ball is in the air: "When she was young, the child went to a special clinic to overcome her dyspraxia so she could improve her handwriting skills and the ability to play games."
2. A disturbance in the programming, control, and execution of normal movements; "Dyspraxia is usually associated with a stroke, a head injury, or any condition affecting the cerebral-brain hemispheres."

"Dyspraxia is also said to be a disorder that sometimes affects only one area of development; for example, an impairment of the ability to write legibly."

The uncontrolled repetitions or imitations of the actions of another person: "Echopraxia is a synonym of echomimia which is the imitation of the motions of other people or excessive movements, and/or repeating what others say or do; especially, excessive motor activities, Tourette syndrome (involuntary movements), schizophrenia (psychotic disorder characterized by delusions and hallucinations), and other neurologic diseases."