Apathy Through History: A Disorder at the Crossroads of Psychiatry and Neurology.

IF 8.2 2区心理学 Q1 NEUROSCIENCES

Neuropsychology Review Pub Date : 2026-02-24 DOI:10.1007/s11065-026-09694-w

David de Noreña-Martínez, Ignacio Sánchez-Cubillo, Daniel Adrover-Roig, José Ignacio Quemada, Marcos Ríos-Lago

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Apathy is a multidimensional neuropsychiatric condition characterized by a reduction in goal-directed behavior, cognition, emotion, or social interaction, with significant clinical implications in both neurological and psychiatric disorders. Despite its prevalence, apathy has traditionally been viewed as a secondary symptom of other pathologies. This article offers a historical and conceptual review of apathy, tracing its evolution from early philosophical ideas of emotional detachment to its current status as a transdiagnostic construct. The review examines the gradual emergence of apathy as a distinct syndrome, emphasizing contributions from psychiatry and neurology. Key concepts such as abulia, anhedonia, akinetic mutism, athymhormia, and avolition are discussed to illustrate the shifting boundaries between these terms. Drawing from historical and modern perspectives, the article explores the semantic evolution of apathy-related terms and their convergence in current diagnostic frameworks. It also addresses ongoing clinical challenges in detecting and differentiating apathy from overlapping syndromes. Ultimately, this review advocates for recognizing apathy as an independent syndrome with distinct neurobiological foundations, emphasizing its importance in behavioral neuroscience and clinical neuropsychiatry.

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历史上的冷漠：精神病学和神经病学交叉路口的一种疾病。

冷漠是一种多维度的神经精神疾病，其特征是目标导向行为、认知、情感或社会互动的减少，在神经和精神疾病中都具有重要的临床意义。尽管它很普遍，但冷漠传统上被认为是其他疾病的次要症状。本文对冷漠的历史和概念进行了回顾，追溯其从早期情感超然的哲学思想到目前作为一种跨诊断结构的演变。这篇综述考察了冷漠作为一种独特综合征的逐渐出现，强调了精神病学和神经病学的贡献。关键的概念，如性欲缺失，快感缺乏，动力缄默症，胸闷症，和自主讨论，以说明这些术语之间的界限转移。从历史和现代的角度出发，本文探讨了冷漠相关术语的语义演变及其在当前诊断框架中的趋同。它还解决了在检测和区分冷漠与重叠综合征方面的持续临床挑战。最后，这篇综述提倡将冷漠视为一种独立的综合征，具有独特的神经生物学基础，强调其在行为神经科学和临床神经精神病学中的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Neuropsychology Review 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

11.00

自引率

1.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Neuropsychology Review is a quarterly, refereed publication devoted to integrative review papers on substantive content areas in neuropsychology, with particular focus on populations with endogenous or acquired conditions affecting brain and function and on translational research providing a mechanistic understanding of clinical problems. Publication of new data is not the purview of the journal. Articles are written by international specialists in the field, discussing such complex issues as distinctive functional features of central nervous system disease and injury; challenges in early diagnosis; the impact of genes and environment on function; risk factors for functional impairment; treatment efficacy of neuropsychological rehabilitation; the role of neuroimaging, neuroelectrophysiology, and other neurometric modalities in explicating function; clinical trial design; neuropsychological function and its substrates characteristic of normal development and aging; and neuropsychological dysfunction and its substrates in neurological, psychiatric, and medical conditions. The journal''s broad perspective is supported by an outstanding, multidisciplinary editorial review board guided by the aim to provide students and professionals, clinicians and researchers with scholarly articles that critically and objectively summarize and synthesize the strengths and weaknesses in the literature and propose novel hypotheses, methods of analysis, and links to other fields.