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Ideational apraxia is a disturbance of voluntary movement in which a person misuses objects because he/she has difficulty identifying the concept or purpose behind the objects. For example, it would be difficult to use a can opener if one could not identify what the purpose of a can opener was. It is important to note that motor movement is not lost in ideational apraxia. However, the person's movements appear confused because he/she cannot form a plan on how to sequence those movements when using an object. Ideational apraxia is due to damage in the submarginal gyrus (a rounded bumpy area) of the parietal lobe of the brain. The parietal lobe is the middle area of the top part of the brain.

Ideational apraxia is often seen in dementia. In dementia, there is a progressive loss of cognitive and intellectual functioning without loss of consciousness. Ideational apraxia is also known as ideatory apraxia and sensory apraxia. Ideational apraxia comes from the Greek word "idea" meaning "form," the Greek word "a" meaning "to do without," and the Greek word "pratto" meaning "to do." Thus, apraxia roughly translates into "without being able to do." Put the words "ideational" and "apraxia" together and you roughly get "without being able to do (because one cannot understand) the form/purpose (of an object)."

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