Reward sensitivity deficits modulated by dopamine are associated with apathy in Parkinson's disease.

ABSTRACT: Apathy is a debilitating and under-recognized condition that has a significant impact in many neurodegenerative disorders. In Parkinson's disease, it is now known to contribute to worse outcomes and a reduced quality of life for patients and carers, adding to health costs and extending disease burden. However, despite its clinical importance, there remains limited understanding of mechanisms underlying apathy. Here we investigated if insensitivity to reward might be a contributory factor and examined how this relates to severity of clinical symptoms. To do this we created novel ocular measures that indexed motivation level using pupillary and saccadic response to monetary incentives, allowing reward sensitivity to be evaluated objectively. This approach was tested in 40 patients with Parki

SUBMITTER: Muhammed K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5035817 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature