“Picking imaginary lint off one’s clothes is what neurologists call carphologia. In the progress of deterioration common to Alzheimer’s disease, a patient will frequently echo back what is said to him. This is called echolalia. The inability to name even familiar objects such as a cigarette is due to a failure to recognize the objects. This is called anomia. And the loss of the ability to do any type of skilled or learned movement such as opening the glove compartment is also typical. It is called apraxia.
