[Apathy, depression and cognitive functioning in patients with MCI and dementia]

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Geriatric Psychiatry
• Cognitive Neurology

Background:

• Apathy and depression symptoms overlap in dementia, complicating diagnosis and treatment.
• Differentiating apathy from depression is crucial for effective therapeutic strategies.
• Both apathy and depression are potentially linked to distinct cognitive impairments and disease progression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of apathy and depression in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
• To explore the association between apathy, depression, and specific cognitive domains in MCI patients.
• To compare the occurrence of apathy and depression across cognitively healthy, MCI, and dementia populations.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) to 117 healthy controls, 97 MCI patients, and 50 dementia patients.
• Utilized the Apathy Evaluation Scale clinical version (AES-C) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) for symptom assessment.
• Conducted correlation analyses to link cognitive deficits with apathy and depression in the MCI group.

Main Results:

• Apathy prevalence increased with cognitive decline: 3.4% (controls), 10.4% (MCI), and 41.5% (dementia).
• Isolated depression was most common in the MCI group (18.8%).
• In MCI patients, apathy correlated with deficits in encoding, attention, and global cognitive function, while depression did not.

Conclusions:

• The prevalence of apathy and depressive symptoms differs significantly across healthy, MCI, and dementia groups.
• Within the MCI population, apathy and depression are associated with distinct cognitive domains, underscoring the importance of differential diagnosis.