Anatomical and neurochemical mechanisms of apathy in Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Apathy is one of the common non-motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD), which can be defined as a syndrome of decreased motivation that manifests as a decrease in goal-directed behaviors. The mechanism of apathy in PD is undetermined, however, the mainstream opinion is that apathy is caused by prefrontal cortex-basal ganglia circuits damage. Prefrontal cortex-basal ganglia circuits damage in different regions lead to different subtypes of apathy, and the mechanism is associated with the anatomy and neurochemical of basal ganglia and related cortical regions.

DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2018.10.013