What are praxis and their main types?

Praxis are acquired motor skills for planning and executing organized movements. Main types include ideomotor, ideational, facial and visuoconstructive praxis, each involving different aspects of intentional movement, object use and spatial organization.

What exercises are recommended to work on praxis?

Recommended NeuronUP exercises include Get Dressed, Mixed Images (children), Jigsaw (adult), The Labyrinth, Finish the Drawings and Complete the Symmetrical Drawings, covering ideational, visuoconstructive and facial praxis domains.

How do praxis exercises differ for children and adults?

Exercises are age-adapted: children’s tasks emphasize simpler visuoconstructive and sequencing demands, while adult versions increase complexity, detail and levels to match cognitive reserves and rehabilitation goals.

What does the Get Dressed exercise work on?

Get Dressed trains ideational praxis by requiring correct garment selection, placement and sequence. It also stimulates procedural memory, body schema, semantic memory and planning.

How can therapists customize praxis activities on the platform?

Therapists can adjust difficulty levels, maze size (rows/columns), solution length, maximum incorrect path length and visual complexity to tailor tasks to each patient’s needs.

Which exercises target visuoconstructive praxis and hemineglect?

Mixed Images, The Labyrinth, Finish the Drawings and Complete the Symmetrical Drawings target visuoconstructive praxis; they improve spatial organization, planning, sustained attention and can help detect or rehabilitate hemineglect.

5 exercises to work on praxis with adults and children

Today we present five exercises to work on praxis with your patients, both in children and adults.

Definition and types of praxis

Praxis are the acquired motor skills, that is, the organized movements we perform to carry out a plan or achieve an objective.

Within praxis we differentiate several types.

Ideomotor: capacity to perform a simple movement or gesture intentionally.
Ideational: capacity to manipulate objects through a sequence of gestures. This implies knowledge of the object’s function, knowledge of the action and knowledge of the serial order of the acts that lead to that action.
Facial: capacity to voluntarily perform movements or gestures with various parts of the face. For example, lips, tongue, eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, etc.
Visuoconstructive: capacity to plan and perform the movements necessary to organize a series of elements in space to form a final drawing or figure.

Any motor activity implies the use of this cognitive function. Activities as basic as speaking, smiling, walking or dressing involve this ability.

5 Exercises to work on praxis with your patients

Below we propose five NeuronUP exercises to work on praxis:

1. Get Dressed

We start with an activity to work on ideational praxis.

What does it involve?

This exercise consists of dressing the silhouette appropriately, taking into account both the location and order of placement of each garment as well as the type of situation (is it cold or hot, is the person going to the beach or to the mountains…).

NeuronUP exercise for praxis Get Dressed — NeuronUP activity *Get Dressed*

What does this activity work on?

In addition to praxis, it also works on procedural memory, body schema, semantic memory and planning.

2. Mixed Images

This exercise is designed exclusively to work on praxis with children.

What does it involve?

On one hand, the goal is for the children to move the pieces of the image until they complete the image.

Exercise to work on praxis Mixed Images — NeuronUP activity *Mixed Images*

Do the children know where to move each piece?

This is how the image they form should look:

NeuronUP exercise for praxis Mixed Images — NeuronUP activity *Mixed Images* completed

What does this activity work on?

On the other hand, it works on visuoconstructive praxis, planning and spatial relationships.

Adult version: Jigsaw Puzzle

This NeuronUP activity is also available for adults in a very similar format, but adapted to their age. The activity aimed at adults is called Jigsaw Puzzle.

What does it involve?

Adults have to put together the provided pieces to form an image.

Play by levels

As with all the platform’s games, the therapist can choose nine levels, depending on each patient’s needs. Below we show you an easy level sheet:

NeuronUP Activity - Complete the Puzzle — NeuronUP Activity – Complete the Puzzle

3. The Labyrinth

What does it involve?

In the following activity the user must find the exit of the Labyrinth.

Activity customization

Also, as in all NeuronUP generators, the therapist can customize the activity. In this case they can choose:

Size: number of rows and number of columns,
solution length: maximum steps and minimum steps,
maximum length of incorrect paths

What does this activity work on?

This exercise works on visuoconstructive praxis, planning, sustained attention and processing speed.

4. Finish the Drawings

What does it involve?

This exercise to work on visuoconstructive praxis and visual gnoses in paper format consists of completing the strokes of a series of figures and objects.