Fazio Leonardo, Logroscino Giancarlo, Taurisano Paolo, Amico Graziella, Quarto Tiziana, Antonucci Linda Antonella, Barulli Maria Rosaria, Mancini Marina, Gelao Barbara, Ferranti Laura, Popolizio Teresa, Bertolino Alessandro, Blasi Giuseppe
University of Bari 'Aldo Moro'-Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience, and Sense Organs, 70124, Bari, Italy.
IRCCS "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza", 71013, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.
PLoS One. 2016 Oct 31;11(10):e0165301. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165301. eCollection 2016.
Convergent evidence indicates that apathy affects cognitive behavior in different neurological and psychiatric conditions. Studies of clinical populations have also suggested the primary involvement of the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia in apathy. These brain regions are interconnected at both the structural and functional levels and are deeply involved in cognitive processes, such as working memory and attention. However, it is unclear how apathy modulates brain processing during cognition and whether such a modulation occurs in healthy young subjects. To address this issue, we investigated the link between apathy and prefrontal and basal ganglia function in healthy young individuals. We hypothesized that apathy may be related to sub-optimal activity and connectivity in these brain regions.
Three hundred eleven healthy subjects completed an apathy assessment using the Starkstein's Apathy Scale and underwent fMRI during working memory and attentional performance tasks. Using an ROI approach, we investigated the association of apathy with activity and connectivity in the DLPFC and the basal ganglia.
Apathy scores correlated positively with prefrontal activity and negatively with prefrontal-basal ganglia connectivity during both working memory and attention tasks. Furthermore, prefrontal activity was inversely related to attentional behavior.
These results suggest that in healthy young subjects, apathy is a trait associated with inefficient cognitive-related prefrontal activity, i.e., it increases the need for prefrontal resources to process cognitive stimuli. Furthermore, apathy may alter the functional relationship between the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia during cognition.
越来越多的证据表明，冷漠在不同的神经和精神疾病中会影响认知行为。对临床人群的研究也表明，前额叶皮质和基底神经节在冷漠中起主要作用。这些脑区在结构和功能层面上相互连接，并深度参与认知过程，如工作记忆和注意力。然而，尚不清楚冷漠在认知过程中如何调节大脑处理，以及这种调节是否发生在健康的年轻受试者中。为了解决这个问题，我们研究了健康年轻个体中冷漠与前额叶和基底神经节功能之间的联系。我们假设冷漠可能与这些脑区的次优活动和连接性有关。
311名健康受试者使用斯塔克斯坦冷漠量表完成了冷漠评估，并在工作记忆和注意力表现任务期间接受了功能磁共振成像。使用感兴趣区域方法，我们研究了冷漠与背外侧前额叶皮质（DLPFC）和基底神经节的活动及连接性之间的关联。
在工作记忆和注意力任务期间，冷漠得分与前额叶活动呈正相关，与前额叶 - 基底神经节连接性呈负相关。此外，前额叶活动与注意力行为呈负相关。
这些结果表明，在健康年轻受试者中，冷漠是一种与低效的认知相关前额叶活动相关的特质，即它增加了处理认知刺激所需的前额叶资源。此外，冷漠可能会在认知过程中改变前额叶皮质和基底神经节之间的功能关系。
