Decision cost hypersensitivity underlies Huntington's disease apathy.

ABSTRACT: The neuropsychiatric syndrome of apathy is now recognized to be a common and disabling condition in Huntington's disease. However, the mechanisms underlying it are poorly understood. One way to investigate apathy is to use a theoretical framework of normal motivated behaviour, to determine where breakdown has occurred in people with this behavioural disruption. A fundamental computation underlying motivated, goal-directed behaviour across species is weighing up the costs and rewards associated with actions. Here, we asked whether people with apathy are more sensitive to costs of actions (physical effort and time delay), less sensitive to rewarding outcomes, or both. Based on the unique anatomical substrates associated with Huntington's disease pathology, we hypothesized that a general hype

SUBMITTER: Morris LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11884755 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature