Language
English
Publication Date
11-18-2025
Journal
npj Parkinson's Disease
DOI
10.1038/s41531-025-01168-9
PMID
41253797
PMCID
PMC12627567
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
11-18-2025
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Apathy is a prevalent non-motor symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD) that negatively impacts quality of life. Impaired self-awareness of apathy (ISA-a) further impacts patient care by limiting engagement. While apathy has been associated with reduced fronto-striatal functional connectivity (FC), the neural basis of ISA-a remains unclear. We examined ISA-a in 52 individuals and the neural basis of ISA-a in 35 individuals with PD using a dimensional approach (i.e., initiation, executive, and emotional apathy) and resting-state fMRI (3T scanner). Apathetic PD patients (42%) showed poorer self-awareness than non-apathetic peers. Apathetic PD patients showed a trend towards reduced FC between the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the left nucleus accumbens (NAcc). A trend for ISA-a in the emotional domain showed altered FC between the left NAcc and orbitofrontal cortices, and the right ACC and right anterior insular cortex. These findings suggest potential neural mechanisms underlying apathy and ISA-a to be studied in larger populations.
Keywords
Parkinson's disease, Neural decoding
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Conn, Hannah; Suzuki, Hideo; Jin, Zekai; et al., "Apathy Self-Awareness and Its Neural Correlates in Parkinson’s Disease" (2025). Faculty and Staff Publications. 5270.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/5270