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 language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 436-443 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria |
Volume | 66 |
Issue number | 2 B |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
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