Neurobiology of apathy in Alzheimer's disease

Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães, Richard Levy, Antônio Lúcio Teixeira, Rogério Gomes Beato, Paulo Caramelli

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Apathy is considered the most frequent neuropsychiatric disturbance in dementia and its outcome is generally deleterious. Apathy can be related to a dysfunction of the anatomical-system that supports the generation of voluntary actions, namely the prefrontal cortex and/or the prefrontal-subcortical circuits. In Alzheimer's disease, pathological and neuroimaging data indicate that apathy is likely due to a dysfunction of the medial prefrontal cortex. Accordingly, in this review article, we propose a pathophysiological model to explain apathetic behavior in Alzheimer's disease, combining data from neuroimaging, neuropathology and experimental research on the role of orbito-frontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia and dopamine in decision-making neurobiology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)436-443
Number of pages8
JournalArquivos de neuro-psiquiatria
Volume66
Issue number2 B
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Anterior cingulate cortex
  • Apathy
  • Basal ganglia
  • Decision-making
  • Dopamine
  • Orbito-frontal cortex

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Biological Psychiatry

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