Apathy, but not depression, predicts all-cause dementia in cerebral small vessel disease

Publication: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry

Jonathan Tay, Robin G Morris, Anil M Tuladhar, Masud Husain, Frank-Erik de Leeuw, Hugh S Markus

July 2020


Summary:

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is the leading vascular cause of dementia and plays a major role in cognitive decline and mortality.

This research aimed to determine whether apathy or depression predicts all-cause dementia in SVD patients.

Using two prospective cohort studies of SVD, the researchers looked at changes in apathy and depression in 104 patients to predict dementia.

The research indicated that while increasing apathy was associated with dementia, baseline depression and change in depression did not predict dementia.

The researchers concluded that apathy, but not depression, may be an early sign of dementia in SVD, and that this may be useful in identifying at-risk individuals.

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