Which term describes the inability to perform a purposeful movement despite intact strength and comprehension?

Which term describes the inability to perform a purposeful movement despite intact strength and comprehension?

• A. Agraphia
• B. Apraxia
• C. Aphasia
• D. Agnosia

Answer: (B)

The key idea is motor planning for purposeful movements. When someone has normal muscle strength and understands the task but cannot perform the movement, this points to apraxia, a disruption in the brain’s ability to plan or sequence actions. It isn’t a problem of strength or understanding, but of organizing the correct motor patterns to execute the action. There are different forms of apraxia (such as ideomotor or ideational) that reflect variations in how the planning process fails, but the common feature is the inability to perform a learned, purposeful movement despite intact motor capacity and comprehension. Agraphia would be a writing impairment, aphasia a language impairment, and agnosia a failure to recognize objects despite intact senses.

The key idea is motor planning for purposeful movements. When someone has normal muscle strength and understands the task but cannot perform the movement, this points to apraxia, a disruption in the brain’s ability to plan or sequence actions. It isn’t a problem of strength or understanding, but of organizing the correct motor patterns to execute the action. There are different forms of apraxia (such as ideomotor or ideational) that reflect variations in how the planning process fails, but the common feature is the inability to perform a learned, purposeful movement despite intact motor capacity and comprehension.

Agraphia would be a writing impairment, aphasia a language impairment, and agnosia a failure to recognize objects despite intact senses.