Long-term recovery from ideomotor apraxia

Abstract

We studied long-term recovery from ideomotor apraxia ≤10 years after onset in 15 subjects with aphasia and apraxia. A detailed battery of praxis and language tests was administered twice: at a mean of 4.5 months after onset (T1) and at a mean of 81.6 months after onset (T2). Long-term recovery from apraxia-both limb apraxia (LA) and buccofacial apraxia (BFA)-was striking. However, differences were clear for recovery from LA and BFA. Long-term recovery from LA can be predicted by initial apraxia severity: the more severe the initial impairment, the less complete the long-term outcome. LA in fluent aphasics and nonfluent aphasics resolved equivalently. Recovery from BFA, in contrast, was more variable. BFA in nonfluent aphasics, although initially more severe than in fluent aphasics, resolved well in the long term, whereas recovery from BFA in fluent aphasics was poor. Recovery from LA and BFA demonstrated no significant correlation with recovery of language deficits. Aphasia and apraxia seem to have related but distinguishable recovery processes.