Noradrenergic deficits contribute to apathy in Parkinson's disease through the precision of expected outcomes.

ABSTRACT: Apathy is a debilitating feature of many neuropsychiatric diseases, that is typically described as a reduction of goal-directed behaviour. Despite its prevalence and prognostic importance, the mechanisms underlying apathy remain controversial. Degeneration of the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system is known to contribute to motivational deficits, including apathy. In healthy people, noradrenaline has been implicated in signalling the uncertainty of expectations about the environment. We proposed that noradrenergic deficits contribute to apathy by modulating the relative weighting of prior beliefs about action outcomes. We tested this hypothesis in the clinical context of Parkinson's disease, given its associations with apathy and noradrenergic dysfunction. Participants with mild-to-modera

SUBMITTER: Hezemans FH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9119485 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature