Apraxia: The Cognitive side of motor control

by Georg Goldenberg

Apraxia is a symptom of cerebral lesions that has puzzled clinicians and researchers for some 100 years. It has engendered many fascinating descriptions and a wide diversity of conflicting theoretical accounts.This book is the first one that gives a comprehensive account of clinical and experimental findings on all manifestations of apraxia as well as of the history and the philosophical underpinning of theories on apraxia. The review of contemporary evidence is illustrated with vivid descriptions of clinical examples. The historical part reveals early precursors of the concept of apraxia in the last third of 19th century and resuscitates contributions made in the "holistic" era in the mid-20thcentury that have now largely fallen in oblivion. They show that the richness of ideas on apraxia is much greater than some modern authors would acknowledge.Over and beyond giving an overview of history and clinical appearance of apraxia the book explores the philosophical fundaments that underlie definitions, classifications, and theories of apraxia. Goldenberg argues that they are ultimately grounded in a mind versus body dichotomy that appears as opposition between high and low or, respectively, cognitive and motor levels of action control. By relating history and modern evidence to perennial philosophical problems the book transgresses thetopic of apraxia and touches the fundaments of cognitive neuroscience.This book will make fascinating reading for those in the fields of neuroscience, neurology, neuropsychology, and developmental psychology

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2013

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apraxia refers to an elusive and intriguing family of related disorders characterized by a disturbance in motor cognition that manifests as an impairment in skilled, volitional movement: what is commonly called 'praxis'. Here, Georg Goldenberg provides a clear, comprehensive, and enlightened account of apraxia. The potential reader should note, however, that the focus of the book is on upper limb apraxia. For readers interested in, say, apraxia of speech, you will likely want to look elsewhere.

The book begins by tracing the history of the disorder and goes as far back to the writings of Meynert, Wernicke, Carl Finkelnberg, and others from the late 19th century. Limb apraxia frequently co-presents with aphasia, and most early thinkers thought of it as related to the aphasic condition. In both his historical analysis and review of contemporary research, Goldenberg examines the evolution of the longstanding debate over whether apraxia is an 'amplification of aphasia', a disorder of symbolic cognition, or something else. He covers in great detail the work of Hugo Liepmann who was the first to undertake a detailed study of the disorder and elucidate its underlying mechanisms. Liepmann's work remains influential to this day.

The major theme that runs throughout the book is a contrasting of different facets of the disorder as being reflective of either 'lower order' or 'higher order' phenomena, which Goldenberg likens to the mind-body dichotomy. This proves to be a useful framework for thinking about the various experimental results that have accumulated over the years.

Although it is a book clearly intended for academics, it is clearly and well written enough that even a regular consumer of popular science could extract much from it.

Five stars -- highly recommended.