Movement Disorders

Movement disorders are neurological syndromes in which there is either an excess of movement (hyperkinesia) or a paucity of voluntary and involuntary movements (hypokinesia), unrelated to weakness or spasticity. Movement disorders are traditionally linked to basal ganglia or extrapyramidal diseases but can also involve the cerebellum. Movement disorders are conventionally divided into two major categories:  hyperkinetic and hypokinetic.

Hyperkinetic movement disorders refer to dyskinesia, or excessive, often repetitive, involuntary movements that intrude upon the normal flow of motor activity.

Hypokinetic movement disorders refer to akinesia (lack of movement), hypokinesia (reduced amplitude of movements), bradykinesia (slow movement), and rigidity. Parkinson’s disease is an example of a hypokinetic movement disorder.

In most movement disorders, speech can be affected. The resulting speech movement disorder can be classified as a hyperkinetic or hypokinetic dysarthria. In some speech movement disorders an ataxic dysarthria can also be present.

 

One of the best places for information about specific movement disorders is the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society website:

https://www.movementdisorders.org/MDS/About/Movement-Disorder-Overviews.htm

 

This website lists information on a wide spectrum of disorders including the following:

The above website also includes downloadable patient handouts on various topics such as :

 

The website also includes many movement disorders rating scales for clinicians, including the primary scale that is used with individuals with Parkinsonism (Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale -UPDRS):

           docs/MDS-UPDRS_English_FINAL_Updated_August2019.pdf