title: [Apathy an neurodegenerative diseases: pathophysiology, diagnostic evaluation, and treatment].
abstract: Apathy is usually defined as a lack of motivation leading to reduced interest and participation in various activities. From a pathophysiological viewpoint, the most common cause of apathy is dysfunction of the frontal lobes, following either direct lesion of the frontal cortex or damage to regions tightly connected to the latter (such as the basal ganglia). The frontal-subcortical circuits often seem to be involved. Apathy is a common behavioral consequence of neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer's disease, parkinsonian syndromes, fronto-temporal dementia). The methods for detecting apathy and assessing its severity are various, the main difficulty being to disentangle apathy and depression. The treatment of apathy per se remains anecdotal and, to date, little research into the efficacy of medication therapy has been performed.
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine, Université du Droit et de la Santé de Lille, Institut Fédératif de Recherche (IFR 114, Neurosciences), Cedex. k-dujardin@chru-lille.fr
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dujardin
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D018491:Dopamine Agonists