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Brain Sciences
Special Issues
Apathy and Cognitive Impairment in Neurological Disorders
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Apathy and Cognitive Impairment in Neurological Disorders

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropsychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 February 2023) | Viewed by 3305

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Simona Raimo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
Interests: neurodegenerative disorders; multiple sclerosis; stroke; neuropsychology; cognitive impairment; clinical trials; aging; behavioural neuroscience; apathy; body representation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sofia Cuoco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, Neuroscience Section, Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (CEMAND), University of Salerno, Baronissi, 84131 Salerno, Italy
Interests: apathy; cognitive impairment; progressive supranuclear palsy; multiple system atrophy; Parkinson; neurodegenerative disorders; functional neurological disorders
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Apathy is a demotivation syndrome characterized by a loss of motivation, emotional reactivity, and initiative. It is a common behavioral consequence of neurodegenerative disorders, and the most common cause is dysfunction of the frontal lobes, following either direct frontal cortex lesions or damage to regions tightly connected to the frontal lobes (e.g., the basal ganglia). Dysfunctions of the different frontal-subcortical circuits are found to be associated with the multidimensional nature of apathy (i.e., behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions). Generally, apathy can correlate with relevant functional disabilities and cognitive diseases, but, to date, methods for detecting apathy and assessing its severity are various. Moreover, the main difficulty is to disentangle apathy and depression, and little research has set apathy as the primary outcome of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions.

Therefore, we will accept original research articles, critical and systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and short communications leading to a greater understanding of the clinical, cognitive, and neural correlates of apathy and its dimensions in neurodegenerative disorders.

Dr. Simona Raimo
Dr. Sofia Cuoco
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • apathy
  • motivation
  • cognition
  • executive dysfunction
  • neurodegenerative disorders

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 288 KiB  
Article
Distinct Neuropsychological Correlates of Apathy Sub-Domains in Multiple Sclerosis
by Simona Raimo, Mariachiara Gaita, Antonio Costanzo, Daniele Spitaleri and Gabriella Santangelo
Brain Sci. 2023, 13(3), 385; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13030385 - 23 Feb 2023
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Abstract
Background: Apathy is relatively frequent and significantly associated with clinical and cognitive outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), even if previous research has produced mixed results. This varied picture could be due to most studies treating apathy as a unitary construct, despite the evidence [...] Read more.
Background: Apathy is relatively frequent and significantly associated with clinical and cognitive outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), even if previous research has produced mixed results. This varied picture could be due to most studies treating apathy as a unitary construct, despite the evidence showing that apathy is a multifaceted syndrome including three different sub-domains (i.e., cognitive, affective, and behavioral). This study aims to investigate the neuropsychological correlates of apathy fractionated into its three sub-domains in participants with MS. Methods: Eighty-five participants with MS underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. The severity of apathy symptoms was assessed by the self-report version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale. Results: Correlational analysis showed that cognitive apathy sub-domain scores had a high correlation with the performances obtained at cognitive tests tapping into inhibitory control (i.e., IML and Strop test-interference task), whereas the affective apathy sub-domain scores had a high correlation with the performances obtained at cognitive test tapping into the use of executive functions in visuospatial abilities (i.e., Clock Drawing Test). Moreover, linear regression analysis results showed that the cognitive apathy sub-domain scores predicted executive functioning domain scores and that the cognitive and affective apathy sub-domains scores predicted visuospatial abilities domain scores. Conclusion: These results confirm that apathy is a multidimensional concept with important neuropsychological correlates, visible only when it is fractionated into its sub-domains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Apathy and Cognitive Impairment in Neurological Disorders)
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10 pages, 263 KiB  
Article
Changes in Apathy, Depression, and Anxiety in Parkinson’s Disease from before to during the COVID-19 Era
by Shraddha B. Kinger, Truley Juneau, Rini I. Kaplan, Celina F. Pluim, Joshua T. Fox-Fuller, Timothy Wang, Nishaat Mukadam, Sandy Neargarder, Robert D. Salazar and Alice Cronin-Golomb
Brain Sci. 2023, 13(2), 199; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13020199 - 24 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1268
Abstract
Apathy, depression, and anxiety are common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Tracking the changes in such symptoms over time would be valuable not only to determine their natural course during the disease, but also to establish the effects of unusual historical events [...] Read more.
Apathy, depression, and anxiety are common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Tracking the changes in such symptoms over time would be valuable not only to determine their natural course during the disease, but also to establish the effects of unusual historical events interacting with the natural course. Having collected data on apathy (Apathy Scale), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II), and anxiety (Parkinson’s Anxiety Scale) in a large sample of persons with PD (PwPD) before the beginning of the COVID-19 era, we followed up with these individuals to investigate the changes in their prevalence of apathy, depression, and anxiety across two timepoints (T1 and T2). Of the original 347 participants, 111 responded and provided complete data at T2. The data collection at T1, before COVID-19, occurred between 2017–2018. The data collection at T2 occurred in 2021 and included the same measures, with the addition of the Coronavirus Impact Scale to assess the effects of the pandemic on the individual participants. Over this period, there was a significant increase in apathy, but not in depression or anxiety. Anxiety and depression, but not apathy, were correlated with the impact of COVID-19. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Apathy and Cognitive Impairment in Neurological Disorders)
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