Apraxia related with subcortical lesions due to cerebrovascular disease

Objectives - To examine whether ideomotor apraxia exists in patients with subcortical ischemic lesions. Patients and Methods - A matched-control, prospective and multi-centered research design was used. Ideomotor apraxia, anxiety and depression were assessed by the Movement Imitation Test and the Hamilton scales, respectively. Results - Forty two consecutive patients with subcortical ischemic stroke and an equal number of healthy participants, matched in age and sex were included. Paired-sample t-tests showed that patients had significantly more apractic elements in their movements (t = 5.03, P < 0.01), higher anxiety (t = -2.55, P = 0.0014) and depression levels (t = -2.61, P = 0.012) than their healthy matched participants. Participants with higher anxiety and depression scores performed worse on the Movement Imitation Test. Conclusions - Ischemic damage of subcortical modular systems may affect praxis.