Common Impairments of Basal Ganglia

Question 1

Inability to initiate movement;
associated with fixed postures

Answer 1

Akinesia

Question 2

Seen in late stages of Parkinson’s
Disease; freezing episodes

Answer 2

Akinesia

Question 3

Slow, involuntary, writhing, twisting,
“wormlike” movements; frequently
greater involvement in distal UEs

Answer 3

Athetosis

Question 4

Degeneration of globus pallidus w/
breakdown of circuitry involving
basal nuclei and cerebral cortex

Answer 4

Athetosis

Question 5

Decreased amplitude and velocity of
voluntary movement

Answer 5

Bradykinesia

Question 6

Characteristic of Parkinson’s
disease

Answer 6

Bradykinesia

Question 7

Involuntary, rapid, irregular, jerky
movements involving multiple joints; most apparent in UEs

Answer 7

Chorea

Question 8

Movement disorder with features of both chorea and athetosis

Answer 8

Choreoathetosis

Question 9

Commonly seen in pt with
Hungtinston’s Disease, rheumatic
fever, lyme disease, meningitis

Answer 9

Choreoathetosis

Question 10

Sustained involuntary contractions of agonist and antagonist muscles

Torsions and spasms

Common in trunk & extremities;
can affect neck, face & vocal cords

Answer 10

Dystonia

Question 11

(most common) type of
cervical dystonia

Answer 11

Stiff neck/ spasmodic torticollis

Question 12

Large-amplitude sudden, violent, flailing
motions of the arm and leg of one side
of the body

Primarily involved axial and
proximal muscles

Lesion of contralateral subthalamic
nucleus (e.g. from stroke or
hemorrhage)

Answer 12

Hemiballismus

Question 13

Abnormally increased muscle activity or
movement; irregular, jerky involuntary
movements in all extremities

Answer 13

Hyperkinesis

Question 14

gait seen in Hyperkinesis

Answer 14

choreiform

Question 15

pt taking
1st gen narcotics, alters inhibitory
pathway → no inhibition = increase
muscle activity

Answer 15

Extrapyramidal syndrome

Question 16

Decreased motor response especially to
a specific muscle

c parkinson gait

Answer 16

Hypokinesis

Question 17

small shuffling
steps & general slowness of
movement (hypokinesia) or total
loss of movement (akinesia) in
extreme cases

Answer 17

Parkinsonian gait

Question 18

Increase in muscle tone causing greater
resistance to passive movement;
greater in flexor muscles of trunk and
extremities;

Answer 18

rigidity

Question 19

two types of rigidity

Answer 19

lead-pipe &
cogwheel

Question 20

uniform, constant
resistance felt by examiner as
extremity is moved through ROM;
more common

Answer 20

Lead-pipe

Question 21

series of
brief relaxation or “catches” as
extremity is passively moved

commonly seen in PD patients

Answer 21

Cogwheel:

Question 22

Involuntary, rhythmic, oscillatory
movement observed at rest

Answer 22

tremor (resting)

Question 23

Tremors associated w/ lesions of
basal ganglia are noted in UE in the
form of

Answer 23

pill-rolling” movement

Question 24

Patient manifests stoop posture in
standing & arms flexed; gait of patient
may present with short steps & is often
unable to stop

Answer 24

postural disturbance

Question 25

Resting tremor is an affectation of

Answer 25

basal ganglia

Question 26

In parkinson’s disease, whta is seen first

Answer 26

In PD pill-rolling tremor is seen first because it looks
like the patient is rolling a pill on the tip of their fingers

Question 27

affectation of the putamen & globus
pallidus (lentiform)

May manifest as Hungtintons’s Disease

Answer 27

Choreoathetosis