Apathy is associated with lower perceptual curiosity

The hallmark of apathy is diminished goal-directed behaviour, yet its relationship to curiosity - the intrinsic drive to explore novel information - remains untested. Here, we examined whether trait apathy is associated with diminished perceptual curiosity. We presented online observers (N = 381) with images of either familiar, everyday objects; or novel, AI-generated objects, which appeared entirely realistic, but do not in fact exist. Observers used their mouse to interact with each stimulus before rating its familiarity, interest, and appeal, and then completed validated measures of trait apathy and perceptual curiosity. Our data yielded three convergent findings. First, trait apathy was associated with differences in how novel and familiar objects were subjectively rated - specifically, as trait apathy increased, observers rated novel objects as more familiar, and familiar objects as more interesting. Second, trait apathy was associated with changes in objective behaviour, such that, as trait apathy increased, observers spent less time viewing novel objects. Finally, scores on trait measures of apathy and curiosity were negatively correlated, such that those who reported higher levels of trait apathy had lower levels of perceptual curiosity. Emotional apathy in particular had the most consistent relationship across both task-based and trait measures of perceptual curiosity. Together, these findings demonstrate that lower perceptual curiosity is a key feature of the apathetic trait, and propose the existence of a previously unrecognised mechanism that links apathy to reduced engagement with perceptual novelty. These results have broad implications for current frameworks of motivation and curiosity in both healthy individuals and clinical populations.