Movement Disorder Symptoms

Question 1

1. What are the two main classes of movement disorder?
2. Name the three classes of tremor and explain each
3. What is the most common type of postural tremor?

Answer 1

1. Hyperkinetic and hypokinetic disorders
2. Rest: occurs when at rest
   Postural: occurs when limbs outstretched,
   Kinetic: occurs during movement of a body part
3. Essential tremor

Question 2

1. Define chorea

2. Identify some of the main causes of chorea

Answer 2

1. Brief irregular purposeless movements that flit and flow from one body part to another.
2. Many causes: acquired and inherited
   Drugs / oral contraceptives
   Basal ganglia lesions
   Sydenham’s chorea
   Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome
   Huntington’s disease / HD like diseases
   Neuroacanthocytosis

Question 3

1. Define myoclonus

2. Identify two common and physiological types of myoclonus

Answer 3

1. Brief electric-shock like jerks

2. Hiccups and hypnic jerks (when falling asleep)

Question 4

1. Define Tics
2. Describe a variety of different tics
3. When do tics mainly arise?

Answer 4

1. “un”-voluntary, repetitive, stereotyped movements, or vocalizations. Tics are suppressible by the patient for a short period of time. Typically, the patient experiences a growing feeling of anxiety and discomfort during tic suppression and when allowed to relax will respond with a flurry of tics.
2. MOTOR: eye blinking, head jerks, arm/leg jerks, complex sequence
   VOCAL: sniffing, grunting, snorting
3. In childhood, rarely in adulthood and if so usually a secondary cause

Question 5

1. Define dystonia

Answer 5

1. Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing abnormal, often repetitive, movements, postures, or both

Question 6

1. What are the four cardinal motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease

Answer 6

1. Tremor, bradykinesia, postural and gait impairment, rigidity.