Neuropsychological performance in mild cognitive impairment with and without apathy.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the neuropsychological characteristics of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with and without apathy.


METHODS
A cohort of 245 MCI patients (mean age = 72 +/- 5.5 years; mean MMSE = 27.5 +/- 1.3) was divided into two subgroups according to their Apathy Inventory score and underwent an extensive neuropsychological battery.


RESULTS
There were 94 (38.4%) patients with and 151 (61.6%) patients without apathy. At baseline the apathetic subgroup had a significantly lower total score on the free and cued selective reminding test (FCSR). Furthermore, the apathetic subgroup showed a significant deterioration in FCSR total recall score between baseline and the 1-year assessment. In conclusion, the presence of apathy in MCI patients is not associated with frontal task performance but with a higher degree of memory impairment.
Robert
Philippe H
PH
Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche, CHU de Nice, INSERM JE 2441, Nice, France. philippe.robert15@wanadoo.fr
Berr
Claudine
C
Volteau
Magali
M
Bertogliati
Christelle
C
Benoit
Michel
M
Mahieux
Florence
F
Legrain
Sylvie
S
Dubois
Bruno
B
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001143:Arousal; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results