| UPDATED: 14:07, Tue, Dec 15, 2020
Link copied Sign up for FREE health tips to live a long and happy life
SUBSCRIBE Invalid email
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters.
Sometimes they ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer.
Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Dementia research aims to identify the onset of dementia as early as possible in order to forestall brain decline. Mapping out the possible symptoms is instrumental to this effort. A new study published in Alzheimer s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer s Association suggests apathy may predict the onset of dementia years in advance of other symptoms.
E-Mail
Apathy - a lack of interest or motivation - could predict the onset of some forms of dementia many years before symptoms start, offering a window of opportunity to treat the disease at an early stage, according to new research from a team of scientists led by Professor James Rowe at the University of Cambridge.
Frontotemporal dementia is a significant cause of dementia among younger people. It is often diagnosed between the ages of 45 and 65. It changes behaviour, language and personality, leading to impulsivity, socially inappropriate behaviour, and repetitive or compulsive behaviours.
A common feature of frontotemporal dementia is apathy, with a loss of motivation, initiative and interest in things. It is not depression, or laziness, but it can be mistaken for them. Brain scanning studies have shown that in people with frontotemporal dementia it is caused by shrinkage in special parts at the front of the brain - and the more severe the shrinkage, the worse the apathy.