Terms used to describe behavior and movement

Psychomotor retardation
this is seen in depression. The patient subjectively feels that all actions have become much more difficult to initiate and carry out. There is a slowing down of all motor acts and thoughts. With severe psychomotor retardation, the observer will notice that the patient's movements are slow and dragging. Psychomotor retardation has been compared to the uniform slowing down of a vehicle produced by the steady application of brake.

Agitation
a state of restlessness and motor overactivity. The patient is easily distracted, so he may be unable to carry through the complicated pattern of voluntary movements.

Apathy
A State of under activity with the reduced responsiveness to stimuli and inability to feel pleasure, which the observer has good reason to distribute to loss of interest or concern, rather than to any intrinsic difficultly in responding.

Tics
Brief, repeated contractions of a muscle or small group of muscles. For example repetitive blinking, distortions of the or nose, shrugging of the shoulders, sniffing, grunting, clearing the throat. It is thought to occur with stress, and is common during childhood. Tics could also occur after encephalitis, in Huntington's chorea, and in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

Rest tremor
In a tremor there is a constant rhythm,which produces a steady oscillation of the affected part of the body. The rest tremor is seen when the subject is at rest. Most commonly seen in the hands, but could also affect the trunk, and head. It could be a normal movement seen in anxious subject. Static tremor also occur in alcohol withdrawal, Parkinson's disease, thyrotoxicosis and as a familial condition in benign essential tremor. Even such organic tremor can vary in intensity from day to day and maybe worsened by emotional stress. Static tremor could also be entirely psychogenic in origin.

Action tremor
This is a tremor made worse by action.

Athetosis
Slow, twisting, sinus movements of arms and legs made more prominent when the patient attempts movement.May be seen in children with cerebral palsy.

Chorea
Sudden, rapid, involuntary, purposeless jerks of fragments of movements. They continually intrude into the patient's normal activity. In Huntington's chorea the face. upper trunk and arms are the most affected. During the early stage of this disease, the patient may try to disguise the choreoform movements by tuning them into a voluntary movement.