A Neuropsychological Model of Free-Drawing from Memory in Constructional Apraxia: A Theoretical Review

Constructional apraxia is an impairment in synthetic activities or abilities such as building, assembling and drawing and it is a major reason for functional disability and for neuropsychological or neurological patients inability to return to work. In this theoretical review a survey of the development of cognitive neuropsychological models of constructional apraxia will be discussed as these relate specifically to drawing abilities. Persons with schizophrenia, somatoform disorders, eating disorders, anosagnosia and right hemisphere disease conditions often present with impairments in the representations or drawings of the body. A plausible cognitive neuropsychological model of constructional apraxia was developed by extracting useful features of previous models and integrating common elements. It is hypothesized that given the relation of the integrity of body-specific representations in the drawings of these neuropsychiatric groups a better understanding of the association between constructional apraxia and free-drawing will provide insights into future clinical and applied neuroscience research.