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  • Title: Apathy is not depression.
    Author: Levy ML, Cummings JL, Fairbanks LA, Masterman D, Miller BL, Craig AH, Paulsen JS, Litvan I.
    Journal: J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci; 1998; 10(3):314-9. PubMed ID: 9706539.
    Abstract:
    If depression is associated with apathy, then they should be expressed together in different dementia syndromes and should co-occur at varying levels of disease severity. The authors performed a cross-sectional comparison of neuropsychiatric symptoms in 30 Alzheimer's disease, 28 frontotemporal dementia, 40 Parkinson's disease, 34 Huntington's disease, and 22 progressive supranuclear palsy patients, using a standardized rating scale (the Neuropsychiatric Inventory). Apathy did not correlate with depression in the combined sample; apathy (r = -0.40, P < 0.0001), but not depression, correlated with lower cognitive function as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination. The relationship of apathy to depression also varied across diagnostic groups. Apathy is a specific neuropsychiatric syndrome that is distinct from depression. Distinguishing these two syndromes has therapeutic implications.
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