Apathy in Old Age Could be a Sign your Brain's Shrinking

A recent study conducted by researchers with the National Institute on Aging shows that apathy, or lack of emotion, may be one of the first signs to suggest a deteriorating mind during old age.

"Just as signs of memory loss may signal brain changes related to brain disease, apathy may indicate underlying changes," said Lenore J. Launer, PhD, with the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, via a press release. "Apathy symptoms are common in older people without dementia. And the fact that participants in our study had apathy without depression should turn our attention to how apathy alone could indicate brain disease."

Researchers used brain volume as a way to measure accelerated brain aging. Though brain volume losses occur during normal aging, larger amounts of brain volume loss may be indicative of a greater health problem.

For the study, researchers examined 4,354 people without dementia, at an average age of 76. They were all asked questions that helped measure symptoms of apathy, including lack of interest, lack of emotions, disinterest in certain activities and interests and a general lack of energy.

Findings showed that people with two or more apathetic symptoms had 1.4 percent smaller gray matter volume and 1.6 percent less white matter volume compared to those who had less than two symptoms of apathy.

"If these findings are confirmed, identifying people with apathy earlier may be one way to target an at-risk group," Launder said, via the release.

What do you think?

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Neurology.