Evidence for deficits in behavioural and physiological responses in aged mice relevant to the psychiatric symptom of apathy.

ABSTRACT: Apathy is widely reported in patients with neurological disorders or post viral infection but is also seen in otherwise-healthy aged individuals. This study investigated whether aged male mice express behavioural and physiological changes relevant to an apathy phenotype. Using measures of motivation to work for reward, we found deficits in the progressive ratio task related to rate of responding. In an effort-related decision-making task, aged mice were less willing to exert effort for high value reward. Aged mice exhibited reduced reward sensitivity but also lower measures of anxiety in the novelty supressed feeding test and an attenuated response to restraint stress with lower corticosterone and reduced paraventricular nucleus c-fos activation. This profile of affective changes did not a

SUBMITTER: Jackson MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8161852 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature