Ideopraxist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person affected by ideational apraxia, a neurological condition that prevents them from carrying out purposeful, sequenced movements
2. Someone who has lost the ability to plan and perform deliberate actions because of damage to the brain's motor planning areas
3. One suffering from a brain disorder in which the mental concept of an action can no longer be translated into the movement itself

Etymology: "Idea" in ancient Greek meant something seen or a form, and "praxis" meant action or doing. Combined with the suffix "-ist" for a person who practices or follows something, these roots make a term for someone whose actions are shaped by ideas or by what they perceive. The combining form "ideo-" is common in neurology and psychology, where it often describes movement driven by thought rather than by physical impulse. This is a modern technical formation, built from Greek parts rather than taken from any ancient usage. Ancient Greeks had no such term, so its meaning comes from the specialized field that coined it, where it refers to a person with impaired purposeful movement that depends on mental representation of an action.