Apathy has been defined as a syndrome clinically different from depression and characterized by loss of motivation, diminished goal-oriented behavior, and cognition as well as reduced emotional expression. It is one of the most common neuropsychiatric syndromes in the aging population, affecting between 3–11% of community-residing older adults, and is increasingly prevalent with advancing age.
In addition, to apathy contributing to a failure to undertake daily activities, it may lead to health problems or further crises. In this context, apathy has been associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia as well as psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and major depression. Identifying risk factors for functional decline in the older population is particularly important, as these individuals are still easily able to participate in targeted psychiatric interventions. While depression has been extensively studied as a predictor of functional decline in healthy older adults less information is available regarding apathy.
As there is no common consensus on how to detect apathy and due to the variety of methods used to assess its severity, more research is needed to investigate its etiopathology as well as its relation to neuropsychiatric diseases. The goal of this Research Topic is to collect studies on the impact of apathy on aging and age-related neuropsychiatric disorders, in order to increase our understanding of the cognitive, clinical, and neural correlates of apathy and deconstruct its underlying mechanisms.
We welcome a range of article types (research articles, reviews, case reports, mini-reviews, opinions, perspectives, etc.…) on, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Prevalence and clinical correlates of apathy with neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's)
• Prevalence and clinical correlation of apathy with psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, depression)
• Effect of psychostimulants on old people affected by apathy
• Neurobehavioral and pharmacological interventions
Apathy has been defined as a syndrome clinically different from depression and characterized by loss of motivation, diminished goal-oriented behavior, and cognition as well as reduced emotional expression. It is one of the most common neuropsychiatric syndromes in the aging population, affecting between 3–11% of community-residing older adults, and is increasingly prevalent with advancing age.
In addition, to apathy contributing to a failure to undertake daily activities, it may lead to health problems or further crises. In this context, apathy has been associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia as well as psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and major depression. Identifying risk factors for functional decline in the older population is particularly important, as these individuals are still easily able to participate in targeted psychiatric interventions. While depression has been extensively studied as a predictor of functional decline in healthy older adults less information is available regarding apathy.
As there is no common consensus on how to detect apathy and due to the variety of methods used to assess its severity, more research is needed to investigate its etiopathology as well as its relation to neuropsychiatric diseases. The goal of this Research Topic is to collect studies on the impact of apathy on aging and age-related neuropsychiatric disorders, in order to increase our understanding of the cognitive, clinical, and neural correlates of apathy and deconstruct its underlying mechanisms.
We welcome a range of article types (research articles, reviews, case reports, mini-reviews, opinions, perspectives, etc.…) on, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Prevalence and clinical correlates of apathy with neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's)
• Prevalence and clinical correlation of apathy with psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, depression)
• Effect of psychostimulants on old people affected by apathy
• Neurobehavioral and pharmacological interventions
