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Do people who experience apathy in specific types of dementia have specific changes in brain activity?
Luciano Mariano, M.S.
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Background
Alzheimer’s and other dementia are progressive disorders, and interventions that promote physical and mental activity may help slow disease progression. However, maintaining motivation for these interventions over time can be difficult, as many individuals with the disease develop apathy syndrome. Apathy reduces motivation for treatment, and it has been linked to accelerated rates of cognitive decline in individuals with dementia. Studies of apathy and dementia, however, are relatively small in number, and more research is needed to better understand how apathy affects brain health in individuals living with different types of dementia.
Research Plan
Luciano Mariano and colleagues will explore the role of apathy in two causes of dementia: Alzheimer’s and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). BvFTD is one of a group of brain diseases that impact the brain’s frontal lobes (areas behind your forehead) and temporal lobes (regions behind your ears). First, the researchers will develop a method of measuring apathy-related brain activity with recordings called electroencephalography, or EEG (which measures electrical signals in the brain). In this method, the team will expose older Brazilian individuals to videos that evoke various emotions, and then use EEGs to measure how the responding brain activity differs in individuals with different levels of apathy. For the second phase of their study, the investigators will recruit another group of older individuals — 20 with Alzheimer’s, 20 with bvFTD and 20 with no cognitive impairment. They will then use their EEG technique to determine how apathy-related brain signaling differs in individuals with different levels of brain health.
Impact
The results of this project could shed new light on the biological mechanisms underlying apathy syndrome in dementia. They could also lead to more precise methods of detecting and treating apathy in different dementias.
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