Akinetic mutism

Akinetic mutism
A state in which a person is unspeaking (mute) and unmoving (akinetic). A textbook on clinical neurology observes that a person with akinetic mutism has "sleep-waking cycles but, when apparently awake, with eyes open, lies mute. immobile and unresponsive." Akinetic mutism is often due to damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. The disorder was the subject of a front-page story in The New York Times on Aug. 30, 1998. The story concerned a 14-year-old girl in Worcester, Mass. named Audrey Santo, bedridden for 11 years, "inert and unspeaking, the legacy of an accidental fall into a backyard swimming pool" in 1987. "She has had a steady stream of visitors to her home," according to the Times, "including priests and some people who claim that they were miraculously healed by her." According to Audrey's pediatrician, Dr. John W. Harding, "She kind of gives you the impression at various times that she sees, hears, and knows who you are."

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a state in which the individual appears to be alert but can make no spontaneous movement or sound, although in some cases a powerful stimulus may evoke a very limited response; it can result from a variety of cerebral lesions. Cf. locked-in syndrome.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Akinetic mutism — is a medical term describing patients who tend neither to speak (mutism) nor move (akinesia). It is the result of severe frontal lobe damage in which the pattern of inhibitory control is one of increasing passivity and gradually decreasing speech …   Wikipedia

  • akinetic mutism — Pathol., Psychiatry. a state of apparent alertness with normal eye movements but no speech or other voluntary motion, usually due to a stroke. * * * …   Universalium

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  • Mutism, akinetic — A state in which a person is unspeaking (mute) and unmoving (akinetic). A textbook on clinical neurology observes that a person with akinetic mutism has sleep waking cycles but, when apparently awake, with eyes open, lies mute. immobile and… …   Medical dictionary

  • Mutism — The inability or unwillingness to speak. A person who is mute cannot or does not care to talk. Someone who was mute was said to be dumb, not in the sense of being stupid, but in the sense of being devoid of the power of speech. The term mutism is …   Medical dictionary

  • Akinesia — Impaired body movement; without movement (or without much movement). Akinesia is a term used in neurology to denote the absence (or poverty) of movement. The word akinetic comes from the prefix a meaning without + the Greek word kinesis meaning… …   Medical dictionary

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  • Muteness — or mutism is an inability to speak caused by a speech disorder. The term originates from the Latin word mutus, meaning silent . Contents 1 Causes 2 Variations 3 Coping with mutism 4 …   Wikipedia

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