The key difference between ataxia and apraxia is that ataxia is a medical condition that occurs due to the loss of controlled and coordinated muscle movements as a result of muscle weakness, while apraxia is a medical condition that occurs due to the inability to carry out purposeful movement despite having proper coordination and muscle power.
Ataxia and apraxia are two neurological conditions that often confuse people. Both are due to lesions on two important parts of the brain: cerebellum and cerebrum. Ataxia is due to a lesion in the cerebellum, while apraixa is due to a lesion in the cerebrum.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Ataxia
3. What is Apraxia
4. Similarities – Ataxia and Apraxia
5. Ataxia vs Apraxia in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Ataxia vs Apraxia
What is Ataxia?
Ataxia is a neurological condition that occurs due to the loss of controlled and coordinated muscle movements because of muscle weakness. People suffering from ataxia experience a lack of coordination while performing movements. Ataxia also describes poor muscle control that causes clumsy movements. This neurological condition can develop over time or come on suddenly. Sometimes ataxia is a sign of several other neurological disorders. It has the following symptoms: poor coordination, walking unsteadily or with the feet set wide apart, poor balancing, difficulty with motor skills, change in the speech, involuntary back forth eye movement, and difficulty in swallowing.
Figure 01: Ataxia
There are three main groups of causes for ataxia: acquired, degenerative, and hereditary. The acquired causes include not getting enough vitamins like vitamin E, alcohol, medication, toxin, thyroid problems, stroke, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, infections, head trauma, cerebral palsy, etc. The degenerative causes include multiple system atrophy. Moreover, people may experience genetic ataxia from either a dominant gene from one parent (autosomal dominant disorder) or a recessive gene from both parents (autosomal recessive disorder).
Ataxia can be diagnosed through blood tests, imaging tests, lumbar punctures, and genetic testing. Furthermore, treatment options include treating underlying conditions, adaptive therapies (hiking sticks, modified utensils, communication aids for speaking), and therapies (physical therapy, occupational therapies, speech therapy).
What is Apraxia?
Apraxia is a medical condition that occurs due to the inability to carry out purposeful movement despite having proper coordination and muscle power. People with apraxia find it difficult to make certain movements even though their muscles are normal. The milder form of apraxia is called dyspraxia. The symptoms of apraxia include the inability to carry out simple movement even though the person has full use of the body and understands commands to move, difficulty in controlling or coordinating movements voluntarily, brain damage that causes aphasia, and language impairment that reduces the ability to understand or use words correctly.
The causes of apraxia include head injury or disease that affects the brain and nervous system, dementia, decreased blood flow to the brain, tumors, hydrocephalus, and corticobasal ganglionic degeneration. Moreover, apraxia can be diagnosed through medical history, tests to measure upper limb apraxia (TULA), physical tests to measure motor coordination skills, and language tests to check the ability to understand commands. Furthermore, treatment options for apraxia include treating underlying conditions, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.
What are the Similarities Between Ataxia and Apraxia?
- Ataxia and apraxia are two neurological conditions.
- Both conditions are due to lesions on two important parts of the brain.
- These conditions are signs of several other neurological disorders.
- Both conditions are treated through physical therapy, occupational therapies, and speech therapy.
What is the Difference Between Ataxia and Apraxia?
Ataxia is a medical condition that occurs due to controlled and coordinated muscle movements as a result of muscle weakness. Meanwhile, apraxia is a medical condition that occurs due to the inability to carry out purposeful movement despite having proper coordination and muscle power. Thus, this is the key difference between ataxia and apraxia. Furthermore, ataxia can occur due to not getting enough vitamins like vitamin E, alcohol, medication, toxin, thyroid problems, stroke, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, infections, head trauma, cerebral palsy, and multiple system atrophy, and hereditary factors. On the other hand, apraxia can occur due to a head injury or disease that affects the brain and nervous system, dementia, decreased blood flow to the brain, tumors, hydrocephalus, and corticobasal ganglionic degeneration.
The below infographic presents the differences between ataxia and apraxia in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Ataxia vs Apraxia
Ataxia and apraxia are two neurological conditions that are due to lesions in the brain. Ataxia is a medical condition that occurs due to controlled and coordinated muscle movements as a result of muscle weakness, while apraxia is a medical condition that occurs due to the inability to carry out purposeful movement despite having proper coordination and muscle power. So, this is the key difference between ataxia and apraxia.
Reference:
1. McNamara, Lindsay. “Ataxia Overview.” Ataxia Overview, 3 Mar. 2022.
2. Parker, Hilary. “Apraxia: Symptoms, Causes, Tests, Treatments.” WebMD.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Ataxia” By Nicolaou et al. – Nicolaou et al. BMC Medical Genetics 2008 9:28 doi:10.1186/1471-2350-9-28 (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia