Skip to main content
Log in

Bringing order to higher order motor disorders

  • Review
  • Published:
Journal of Neurology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Majority of movements in everyday situations are complex and involve volition, planning of the movement and selection of the motor programme, all occurring before movement execution. Higher order motor disorders may be defined as abnormal motor behaviours resulting from disruption of any of the cortical processes that precede execution of the motor act. They are common in patients with neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric diseases and structural brain lesions. These abnormal behaviours may be overlooked in the clinic, unless specifically evoked by the examiner. We discuss clinical and pathophysiological aspects of higher order motor disorders including: (1) disorders of disinhibition, such as grasp reflex and grasping behaviour, utilisation and imitation behaviour, motor preservations and paratonia; (2) disorders of motor intention such as motor neglect and motor impersistence; (3) alien limb syndrome; and (4) motor overflow phenomena, such as mirror movements and synkinesias. A video illustration of each phenomenon is provided. We place the findings from recent neurophysiological studies within the framework of theories of motor control to provide better insight into pathophysiology of different disorders.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lhermitte F (1986) Human autonomy and the frontal lobes. Part II: patient behavior in complex and social situations: the “environmental dependency syndrome”. Ann Neurol 19(4):335–343

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lhermitte F (1983) ‘Utilization behaviour’ and its relation to lesions of the frontal lobes. Brain 106(Pt 2):237–255

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Denny-Brown D, Chambers RA (1958) The parietal lobe and behavior. Res Publ Assoc Res Nerv Ment Dis 36:35–117

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Luria AR (1965) Two kinds of motor perseveration in massive injury of the frontal lobes. Brain 88:1–10

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Goldberg G (1985) Supplementary motor area structure and function: review and hypotheses. Behav Brain Sci 17:187–245

    Google Scholar 

  6. Strick PL, Dum RP, Picard N (1998) Motor areas on the medial wall of the hemisphere. Novartis Found Symp 218:64–75 104–8.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Haggard P (2008) Human volition: towards a neuroscience of will. Nat Rev Neurosci 9(12):934–946

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Deiber MP et al (1999) Mesial motor areas in self-initiated versus externally triggered movements examined with fMRI: effect of movement type and rate. J Neurophysiol 81(6):3065–3077

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Fried I et al (1991) Functional organization of human supplementary motor cortex studied by electrical stimulation. J Neurosci 11(11):3656–3666

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Passingham RE (1987) Two cortical systems for directing movement. Ciba Found Symp 132:151–164

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Mountcastle VB et al (1975) Posterior parietal association cortex of the monkey: command functions for operations within extrapersonal space. J Neurophysiol 38(4):871–908

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Taira M et al (1990) Parietal cortex neurons of the monkey related to the visual guidance of hand movement. Exp Brain Res 83(1):29–36

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Jeannerod M et al (1995) Grasping objects: the cortical mechanisms of visuomotor transformation. Trends Neurosci 18(7):314–320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Pacherie E (2007) The anarchic hand syndrome and utilization behavior: a window onto agentive self-awareness. Funct Neurol 22(4):211–217

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Mesulam MM (1986) Frontal cortex and behavior. Ann Neurol 19(4):320–325

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. De Renzi E, Barbieri C (1992) The incidence of the grasp reflex following hemispheric lesion and its relation to frontal damage. Brain 115 Pt 1:293–313

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Ganos C et al (2012) The pathophysiology of echopraxia/echolalia: relevance to Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Mov Disord 27(10):1222–1229

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Rizzolatti G et al (1996) Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 3(2):131–141

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Allison T, Puce A, McCarthy G (2000) Social perception from visual cues: role of the STS region. Trends Cogn Sci 4(7):267–278

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Rizzolatti G, Craighero L (2004) The mirror-neuron system. Annu Rev Neurosci 27:169–192

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Brass M, Derrfuss J, von Cramon DY (2005) The inhibition of imitative and overlearned responses: a functional double dissociation. Neuropsychologia 43(1):89–98

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Bien N et al (2009) The brain’s intention to imitate: the neurobiology of intentional versus automatic imitation. Cereb Cortex 19(10):2338–2351

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Sandson J, Albert ML (1984) Varieties of perseveration. Neuropsychologia 22(6):715–732

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Goldberg E (1986) Varieties of perseveration: a comparison of two taxonomies. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 8(6):710–726

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Wu LJ et al (2008) Applause sign in Parkinsonian disorders and Huntington’s disease. Mov Disord 23(16):2307–2311

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Luzzi S et al (2011) Applause sign: is it really specific for Parkinsonian disorders? Evidence from cortical dementias. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 82(8):830–833

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Hobbelen JS et al (2006) Paratonia: a Delphi procedure for consensus definition. J Geriatr Phys Ther 29(2):50–56

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Dupre E (1910) Débilité mentale et débilité motrice associées. Rev Neurol 20:54–56

    Google Scholar 

  29. Kleist K (1927) Gegenhalten (motorischer negativismus) zwangsgreifen und thalamus opticus. Monatchr Psychiat Neurol 65:317–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Souren LE, Franssen EH, Reisberg B (1997) Neuromotor changes in Alzheimer’s disease: implications for patient care. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 10(3):93–98

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Beversdorf DQ, Heilman KM (1998) Facilitatory paratonia and frontal lobe functioning. Neurology 51(4):968–971

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Chatterjee A (1998) Feeling frontal dysfunction: facilitatory paratonia and the regulation of motor behavior. Neurology 51(4):937–939

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Benassi G et al (1990) Neurological examination in subjects over 65 years: an epidemiological survey. Neuroepidemiology 9(1):27–38

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Hobbelen JS et al (2008) Diagnosing paratonia in the demented elderly: reliability and validity of the Paratonia Assessment Instrument (PAI). Int Psychogeriatr 20(4):840–852

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Heilman KM (2004) Intentional neglect. Front Biosci 9:694–705

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Donkervoort M et al (2000) Prevalence of apraxia among patients with a first left hemisphere stroke in rehabilitation centres and nursing homes. Clin Rehabil 14(2):130–136

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Buxbaum LJ et al (2004) Hemispatial neglect: Subtypes, neuroanatomy, and disability. Neurology 62(5):749–756

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Garbarini F et al (2013) Dissociations and similarities in motor intention and motor awareness: the case of anosognosia for hemiplegia and motor neglect. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 84(4):416–419

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Siekierka-Kleiser EM et al (2006) Quantitative assessment of recovery from motor hemineglect in acute stroke patients. Cerebrovasc Dis 21(5–6):307–314

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Nijboer TC, Kollen BJ, Kwakkel G (2013) Time course of visuospatial neglect early after stroke: a longitudinal cohort study. Cortex 49(8):2021–2027

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Sampanis DS, Riddoch J (2013) Motor neglect and future directions for research. Front Hum Neurosci 7:110

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Laplane D, Degos JD (1983) Motor neglect. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 46(2):152–158

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Bannur U, Rajshekhar V (2000) Post operative supplementary motor area syndrome: clinical features and outcome. Br J Neurosurg 14(3):204–210

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. von Giesen HJ et al (1994) Cerebral network underlying unilateral motor neglect: evidence from positron emission tomography. J Neurol Sci 125(1):29–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Classen J et al (1997) The motor syndrome associated with exaggerated inhibition within the primary motor cortex of patients with hemiparetic. Brain 120(Pt 4):605–619

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Fisher M (1956) Left hemiplegia and motor impresistence. J Nerv Ment Dis 123(3):201–218

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Walker FO (2007) Huntington’s disease. Lancet 369(9557):218–228

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Cambier J et al (1985) Frontal syndrome of progressive supranuclear palsy. Rev Neurol (Paris) 141(8–9):528–536

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Lopez OL, Becker JT, Boller F (1991) Motor impersistence in Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex 27(1):93–99

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Kertesz A et al (1985) Motor impersistence: a right-hemisphere syndrome. Neurology 35(5):662–666

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. De Renzi E, Gentilini M, Bazolli C (1986) Eyelid movement disorders and motor impersistence in acute hemisphere disease. Neurology 36(3):414–418

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Seo SW et al (2007) Dominant limb motor impersistence associated with callosal disconnection. Neurology 68(11):862–864

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Kim HJ et al (2017) Callosal motor impersistence: a novel disconnection syndrome. Cogn Behav Neurol 30(2):68–72

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Rosse RB, Ciolino CP (1986) Motor impersistence mistaken for uncooperativeness in a patient with right-brain damage. Psychosomatics 27(7):532–534

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Doody RS, Jankovic J (1992) The alien hand and related signs. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 55(9):806–810

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Goldberg G, Bloom KK (1990) The alien hand sign. Localization, lateralization and recovery. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 69(5):228–238

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Hassan A, Josephs KA (2016) Alien hand syndrome. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 16(8):73

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Moore JW, Fletcher PC (2012) Sense of agency in health and disease: a review of cue integration approaches. Conscious Cogn 21(1):59–68

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  59. Denny-Brown D (1958) The nature of apraxia. J Nerv Ment Dis 126(1):9–32

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Peluso S et al (2016) The magnetic apraxia of Denny-Brown. Neurology 87(6):644

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Boccardi E et al (2002) Utilisation behaviour consequent to bilateral SMA softening. Cortex 38(3):289–308

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Chan JL, Ross ED (1997) Alien hand syndrome: influence of neglect on the clinical presentation of frontal and callosal variants. Cortex 33(2):287–299

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Sperry RW (1968) Hemisphere deconnection and unity in conscious awareness. Am Psychol 23(10):723–733

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Brainin M, Seiser A, Matz K (2008) The mirror world of motor inhibition: the alien hand syndrome in chronic stroke. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 79(3):246–252

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Feinberg TE et al (1992) Two alien hand syndromes. Neurology 42(1):19–24

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Assal F, Schwartz S, Vuilleumier P (2007) Moving with or without will: functional neural correlates of alien hand syndrome. Ann Neurol 62(3):301–306

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Graff-Radford J et al (2013) The alien limb phenomenon. J Neurol 260(7):1880–1888

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  68. Chan JL, Chen RS, Ng KK (1996) Leg manifestation in alien hand syndrome. J Formos Med Assoc 95(4):342–346

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Fitzgerald DB et al (2007) Asymmetrical alien hands in corticobasal degeneration. Mov Disord 22(4):581–584

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Denny-Brown D, Positive and negative aspects of cerebral cortical function. N C Med J 1956 17:295–303

  71. Barclay CL, Bergeron C, Lang AE (1999) Arm levitation in progressive supranuclear palsy. Neurology 52(4):879–882

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Beaule V, Tremblay S, Theoret H (2012) Interhemispheric control of unilateral movement. Neural Plast 2012:627816

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  73. Cox BC, Cincotta M, Espay AJ (2012) Mirror movements in movement disorders: a review. Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y) 2:1–31. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3569961/

    Google Scholar 

  74. Farmer SF et al (1991) Plasticity of central motor pathways in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Neurology 41(9):1505–1510

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  75. Addamo PK et al (2007) The effects of age and attention on motor overflow production—a review. Brain Res Rev 54(1):189–204

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  76. Farmer SF (2005) Mirror movements in neurology. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 76(10):1330

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  77. Hashimoto T, Shindo M, Yanagisawa N (2001) Enhanced associated movements in the contralateral limbs elicited by brisk voluntary contraction in choreic disorders. Clin Neurophysiol 112(9):1612–1617

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  78. Krampfl K et al (2004) Mirror movements and ipsilateral motor evoked potentials in ALS. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Other Motor Neuron Disord 5(3):154–163

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  79. Louis ED, Rios E, Henchcliffe C (2009) Mirror movements in patients with essential tremor. Mov Disord 24(15):2211–2217

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  80. Low SC et al (2013) Excessive motor overflow reveals abnormal inter-hemispheric connectivity in Friedreich ataxia. J Neurol 260(7):1757–1764

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  81. Hoy KE et al (2009) Neurological soft signs in schizophrenia: investigating motor overflow. World J Biol Psychiatry 10(4 Pt 3):763–771

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  82. Tubbs RS et al (2004) Exclusive lower extremity mirror movements and diastematomyelia. Pediatr Neurosurg 40(3):132–135

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  83. Cincotta M, Ziemann U (2008) Neurophysiology of unimanual motor control and mirror movements. Clin Neurophysiol 119(4):744–762

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  84. Penfield W, Boldrey E (1937) Somatic motor and sensory representation in the cerebral cortex of man as studied by electrical stimulation. Brain 60(4):389–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  85. Schieber MH, Hibbard LS (1993) How somatotopic is the motor cortex hand area? Science 261(5120):489–492

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  86. Sanes JN et al (1995) Shared neural substrates controlling hand movements in human motor cortex. Science 268(5218):1775–1777

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  87. Fink GR et al (1997) Multiple nonprimary motor areas in the human cortex. J Neurophysiol 77(4):2164–2174

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  88. Park IS et al (2009) Mirror movements and involuntary homolateral limb synkinesis in a patient with probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 111(4):380–383

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  89. Sitburana O, Jankovic J (2008) Focal hand dystonia, mirror dystonia and motor overflow. J Neurol Sci 266(1–2):31–33

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  90. Jedynak PC, Tranchant C, de Beyl DZ (2001) Prospective clinical study of writer’s cramp. Mov Disord 16(3):494–499

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  91. Espay AJ (2010) Motor excess during movement: Overflow, mirroring, and synkinesis. Clin Neurophysiol 121(1):5–6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  92. Ridding MC et al (1995) Changes in the balance between motor cortical excitation and inhibition in focal, task specific dystonia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 59(5):493–498

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  93. Ghacibeh GA et al (2007) Dissociation of neglect subtypes with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Neurology 69(11):1122–1127

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maja Kojović.

Ethics declarations

Informed consent

The manuscript does not contain clinical studies. All patients gave their informed consent for video recording and publication in clinical/scientific journal.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The study has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Video 1. Grasping reflex. Grasping is present on both side and consists of forced hand closure over the hammer’s handle. After instructed not to grasp, patient resisted it, showing grasping is not absolutely forced phenomenon. (WMV 6291 KB)

Video 2: Prehension (grasping) behaviour. Patient with corticobasal syndrome follows with hands an object presented as tactile and visual stimulus, in an attempt to seize it. This behaviour is spontaneous and occurs while examiner is talking to patient’s spouse. The patient did not get any instructions. (MP4 76813 KB)

Video 3. Utilisation behaviour. Various objects were put in front of the patient with frontal lobe tumour, without giving him any instructions. The patient first uses neurological hammer, he then put on the gloves on and finally starts eating cookies. When doctors asked him why he put the gloves on, he had no answer. (WMV 35525 KB)

Video 4. Motor preservations (continuous). Patient with progressive supranuclear palsy and positive applause sign. He was asked to clap three times after demonstration by the examiner; however, he clasped many times. (MP4 2047 KB)

Video 5. Paratonia. Despite repeated suggestion by examiner, the patient is not able to relax during examination of the muscle tone. Limb stay lifted up in the air after quick release by examiner. (MP4 17879 KB)

Video 6. Facilitatory paratonia. Patient with early Alzheimer dementia actively assists the passive movements. When the arm is released, it becomes obvious that patient is making the same active movements as were the passive movements made by examiner. (WMV 18760 KB)

Video 7. Motor neglect. The patient has right frontoparietal metastasis. It can be noticed that he shaved only the right half of the face. On instruction to lift the arms up, he lifts only the right arm. On explicit instruction to lift both arms up, he is able to do it. On instruction to put arms down, he release only the right arm, while he still keep holding the handle with his left arm. Finally, he puts the left arm down after directly prompted by examiner. (WMV 10650 KB)

Video 8. Motor extinction. During bimanual movements, the performance of the left, affected limb, is deteriorating until it finally stops moving. (WMV 2666 KB)

Video 9. Motor neglect in right SMA lesion. The patient underwent surgery for right SMA cortical dysplasia (as treatment for pharmaco-resistant epilepsy) and suffered postoperative oedema. Few days following surgery, she could not move the left leg on command (both supine and when sitting), although she could walk almost normally. Patient was completely aware of the problem, which remitted after 2 weeks. (WMV 32432 KB)

Video 10. Gaze impersistence. Patient is unable to keep eyes fixated to the target, particularly on leftward gaze, with eyes constantly drifting toward midline. When looking up, eyes drift down, in ping-pong fashion. (WMV 30283 KB)

Video 11. Frontal alien hand syndrome. Patient with corticobasal syndrome magnetically follows an object with dominant hand only and finally forcefully grasp it. (WMV 14033 KB)

Video 12. Patient with parietal lobe stroke complained his right arm was spontaneously lifting and he felt it as not being his arm. Right arm spontaneously slowly levitates (both with eyes open and closed). (MP4 15520 KB)

Video 13. Alien hand in corticobasal syndrome. Left arm manifest non-purposeful movements, while right arm is held in abnormal posture and patient does not utilise it (useless hand). (MP4 13647 KB)

Video 14. Alien leg. Patient with corticobasal syndrome manifest spontaneous levitation of the left leg that may last for hours. She has patellar dislocation due to these prolonged abnormal postures. (MP4 57807 KB)

Video 15. Useless hand. Left arm is held in an abnormal flexed posture and the patient does not use it, apart for stereotyped nose pocking. The patient also uses his left arm as a support when standing up, suggesting that automatic movements are preserved. (WMV 70494 KB)

Video 16. The patient with cerebral palsy and right hemiparesis shows mirror movements when moving both, affected and non-affected arm (see also Figure 2). (MP4 21964 KB)

Video 17. Patient with Parkinson’s disease shows mirror movements when finger tapping with the more affected (right side), while no mirror movements are seen when moving less affected side. (MP4 37534 KB)

Video 18. Mirror movements in patient with corticobasal syndrome. On attempt to imitate meaningless gestures with right (more affected side), MM are seen on the opposite side. (WMV 12916 KB)

Video 19. Mirror movements in proximal joints. Mirroring appears in the right elbow joint, when the patient performs finger to nose test with left arm. (WMV 3408 KB)

Video 20. When the patient intentionally open and close the left fist, synkinesias (synchronous involuntary movements of the same direction and speed) appear in both legs. (MP4 19058 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kojović, M., Bhatia, K.P. Bringing order to higher order motor disorders. J Neurol 266, 797–805 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-8974-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-8974-9

Keywords

Navigation