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Updated: May 1, 2026
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
Published on: August 26, 2011
Structural MRI correlates of apathy symptoms in older persons without dementia: AGES-Reykjavik Study
Anne M Grool1, Mirjam I Geerlings, Sigurdur Sigurdsson
1From the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care (A.M.G., M.I.G.) and Department of Radiology (A.M.G.), University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; National Institute on Aging (M.I.G., M.E.G., T.B.H., L.J.L.), Laboratory for Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, Bethesda, MD; Icelandic Heart Association (S.S., G.E., P.V.J., K.S., V.G.), Kopavogur; Janus Rehabilitation (K.S.), Vorduskola v/Egilsgotu, Reykjavik; Landspitali University Hospital (T.S.), Reykjavik; and University of Iceland (V.G.), Reykjavik, Iceland.
Objective:
We aimed to investigate the relation between apathy symptoms and structural brain changes on MRI, including white matter lesions (WMLs) and atrophy, in a large cohort of older persons.
Methods:
Cross-sectional analyses are based on 4,354 persons without dementia (aged 76 ± 5 years) participating in the population-based Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study. Apathy symptoms were assessed with 3 items from the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Brain volumes and total WML volume were estimated on 1.5-tesla MRI using an automated segmentation program; regional WML load was calculated using a semiquantitative scale. Regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, education, intracranial volume, vascular risk factors, physical activity, brain infarcts, depressive symptoms, antidepressants, and cognitive status.
Results:
Compared to those with <2 apathy symptoms, participants with ≥ 2 apathy symptoms (49% of the cohort) had significantly smaller gray matter volumes (mean adjusted difference -3.6 mL, 95% confidence interval [CI] -6.2 to -1.0), particularly in the frontal and temporal lobes; smaller white matter volumes (mean adjusted difference -1.9 mL, 95% CI -3.6 to -0.3), mainly in the parietal lobe; and smaller thalamus volumes. They were also more likely to have WMLs in the frontal lobe (adjusted odds ratio = 1.08, 95% CI 0.9-1.3). Excluding participants with a depression diagnosis did not change the associations.
Conclusions:
In this older population without dementia, apathy symptoms are associated with a more diffuse loss of both gray and white matter volumes, independent of depression.
