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Noun: catatonia  `ka-tu'tow-nee-u
  1. Extreme tonus; muscular rigidity; a common symptom in catatonic schizophrenia
     
  2. A form of schizophrenia characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed stuporous state for long periods; the catatonia may give way to short periods of extreme excitement
    - catatonic schizophrenia, catatonic type schizophrenia

Derived forms: catatonias

See also: catatonic

Type of: dementia praecox, schizophrenia, schizophrenic disorder, schizophrenic psychosis, tone, tonicity, tonus

Encyclopedia: Catatonia