Art, constructional apraxia, and the brain

Art is diverse. Painters, sculptors, and architects use different media and often pursue their art in very different ways. Painters can be as different as Rembrandt, Turner, Mondrian, Klee, Miro, and Rothko, yet all share important attributes. In this volume, the various contributors also have very different backgrounds, being engaged in different artistic and medical disciplines. My perspective is that of a doctor, a neurologist who cares for individuals with brain diseases, mostly strokes and will comment on the dysfunction, labeled constructional apraxia, from a practicing physician's viewpoint. After describing and defining the term, I reflect on important attributes needed to complete successful art. I then will turn to the regions of the brain that usually show lesions in patients with constructional apraxia and comment on bedside testing of the various disorders that contribute to this disorder, emphasizing my own approach. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.