Locomotor ataxia is the inability to precisely control one's own bodily movements.
Disease
People afflicted with this disease may walk in a jerky, non-fluid manner. They will not know where their arms and legs are without looking (i.e., a failure of
proprioception), but can, for instance, feel and locate a hot object placed against their feet. It is often a symptom of
tabes dorsalis, which is a key finding in tertiary
syphilis.
It is caused by degeneration of the posterior (dorsal) white column of the spinal cord.
In popular culture
The effects of
neurosyphilis (such as locomotor ataxia) are dramatized in the story "Love O' Women" by
Rudyard Kipling.
Bram Stoker's death certificate named the cause of death as "Locomotor Ataxia 6 months", presumed to be a reference to neurosyphilis.
