Neurobiology of apathy in Alzheimer's disease.
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.
Guimarães
Henrique Cerqueira
HC
Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Levy
Richard
R
Teixeira
Antônio Lúcio
AL
Beato
Rogério Gomes
RG
Caramelli
Paulo
P
D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000378:metabolism; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology
D018491:Dopamine Agonists