Human cognitive neuroscience seminar

Speaker: Debbie Gray (Research assistant, The University of Edinburgh)

Title: Investigating the relationship between apathy subtypes, quality of life, wellbeing and burden in motor neurone disease

Abstract: Apathy is the most prevalent and debilitating behaviour change in motor neurone disease (MND). It is composed of different subtypes of demotivation (Executive, Emotional and Initiation; Radakovic & Abrahams, 2018), measurable by the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS; Radakovic & Abrahams, 2014). Initiation apathy (lack of motivation for self-generation of thoughts/actions) has been observed as characteristic in MND (Radakovic et al. 2016; Santangelo et al. 2017). However, the practical impact of these apathy subtypes on the everyday lives of people with MND and their families has not been explored. Thus, the aims of this study are to: (1) investigate the extent to which specific apathy subtypes are associated with quality of life, wellbeing and caregiver burden in people living with MND, and their families and (2) explore how these associations change over the course of the disease. In this talk I will provide an overview of the cognitive and behavioural changes that are seen in MND, with a particular focus on the prevalence, profile and impact of apathy. I will then discuss the current study, presenting the cross-sectional results and preliminary analyses from the longitudinal data.