Of Postures, Mirrors, and Models in Catatonia

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Back to table of contents Previous article Next article LettersFull AccessOf Postures, Mirrors, and Models in CatatoniaUrvakhsh Meherwan Mehta, M.D., Narayana Manjunatha, M.D., D.P.M., and John P. John, M.D.Urvakhsh Meherwan MehtaSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., Narayana ManjunathaSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., D.P.M., and John P. JohnSearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:1 Jan 2011AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail To the Editor: Posturing in catatonia is one of its more distinctive phenomena, the bizarreness of which has fascinated psychopathologists, clinicians, and researchers alike. Fish1 describes posturing as a disorder of goal-directed movements. Cutting2 ascribes it to a disintegration of purposeful actions and gives it a status of pseudo-purposefulness. We report a case of catatonia that presented with a wide range of posturing, involving groups of muscles from head to toe, and we highlight the relevance of a broader conceptualization of posturing and newer research forays based on fundamentals of motor cognition.Case ReportA 26-year-old man from southern India with unremarkable past, personal, and family history presented with illness lasting 8 days that had abrupt onset and polymorphic course. Symptoms appeared in the sequence of paranoid delusions and extreme psychomotor excitement, and over the next 2 days, he displayed florid catatonic features, the most dramatic of them being demonstration of an array of posturing signs from head to toe.The patient's face displayed grimacing (due to facial muscle spasm giving an appearance of a sneering grin like that of risus sardonicus) and motor stereotypies of his lower jaw with instances of spasms in his jaw muscles leading to trismus. Staring was evident, with fixed gaze and poor blink rate. Stereotyped posturing was observed in the neck and shoulder muscles as he lay supine in bed with his head a few inches off the pillow (psychological pillow) and in the extensor spinal muscles which led to episodic and recurrent opisthotonus or arc de cercle. Classical mannerist posturing involving the upper limbs was evident, with his arms spontaneously held in a prayer-like folded manner (namasthe in Indian culture). Catalepsy or perseveration of posture was observed in both upper and lower limbs when placed in a series of uncomfortable postures. The posturing display occurred in episodes lasting 1–20 minutes over a period of 36 hours. There was no historical account of being administered neuroleptics. Examination did not reveal neurological deficits. Despite extensive metabolic, imaging, and EEG investigations, no organic pathology was demonstrated. The patient improved with ECT after partial response to lorazepam.DiscussionIt has been more than a century since Kahlbaum3 described catatonia as a syndrome of motor abnormalities, yet it remains a poorly understood phenomenon. Novel methods based on fundamentals of cognitive and social neurosciences may shed some light on neurobiology of catatonia. We propose a broader conceptualization of posturing as a prototype motor dysregulation state based on recent advances in mirror neurons and motor cognition. The increasing understanding of neural circuits underlying motor cognition domains of intention (presupplementary motor area and intraparietal sulcus),4 initiation (supplementary motor area),5 termination (right posterior parietal cortex),6 implicit motor feedback for execution (anterior cingulate),7 sense of agency and gnosis of these phenomena (mirror neurons of inferior parietal lobule, pars opercularis of inferior frontal gyrus and insula)8 is an exciting development. These concepts can be utilized in formulating a composite cognitive model of catatonia which can then be empirically tested.Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India1. Casey P , Kelly B: Motor disorders, in Fish's Clinical Psychopathology: Signs and Symptoms in Psychiatry, 3rd Edition. Edited by Casey PKelly B. Cambridge, UK, Gaskell, 2007Google Scholar2. Cutting J: Principles of Psychopathology: Two Worlds, Two Minds, Two Hemispheres, 3rd Edition. Oxford, UK, Oxford Univ. Press, 1997Google Scholar3. Kahlbaum KL: Catatonia. (trans. , Levi Y , Pridon T). Baltimore, MD, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1973Google Scholar4. Haggard P: Conscious intention and motor cognition. Trends Cogn Sci 2005; 9:290–295Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar5. Jahanshahi M , Jenkins IH , Brown RG, et al.: Self-initiated versus externally triggered movements. I. An investigation using measurement of regional cerebral blood flow with PET and movement-related potentials in normal and Parkinson's disease subjects. Brain 1995; 118(part 4):913–933Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar6. Northoff G: Catatonia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome: psychopathology and pathophysiology. J Neural Transm 2002; 109:1453–1467Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar7. Berns GS , Cohen JD , Mintun MA: Brain regions responsive to novelty in the absence of awareness. Science 1997; 276:1272–1275Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar8. Rizzolatti G , Fabbri-Destro M , Cattaneo L: Mirror neurons and their clinical relevance. Nat Clin Pract Neurol 2009; 5:24–34Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 23Issue 1 Winter 2011Pages E16-E16 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 January 2011 Published in print 1 January 2011