Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jul 12;13(7):1061.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci13071061.

A Systematic Review of Pharmacological Interventions for Apathy in Aging Neurocognitive Disorders

Christos Theleritis  1 , Kostas Siarkos  1 , Anastasios Politis  2 , Nikolaos Smyrnis  3 , Charalabos Papageorgiou  1 , Antonios M Politis  1   4
Affiliations
Review

A Systematic Review of Pharmacological Interventions for Apathy in Aging Neurocognitive Disorders

Christos Theleritis et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Objective: Apathy, a frequent neuropsychiatric symptom in aging neurocognitive disorders, has been associated with cognitive decline and functional disability. Therefore, timely provision of pharmacological interventions for apathy is greatly needed.

Design: A systematical literature review of existing studies was conducted up to 30 May 2023 in several databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, Cochrane, Google Scholar, etc.) that included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses assessing pharmacological treatments for apathy in aging neurocognitive disorders. The quality of the studies was appraised.

Results: In patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, methylphenidate, and gingko biloba were proven efficacious for apathy, while rivastigmine, cognitive enhancer IRL752 and piribedil were found to be beneficial in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and agomelatine in patients with Frontotemporal Dementia (FD). The extensive proportion of RCTs in which apathy was used as a secondary outcome measure, along with the considerable methodological heterogeneity, did not allow the evaluation of group effects.

Conclusions: Pharmacological interventions for apathy in aging neurocognitive disorders are complex and under-investigated. The continuation of systematic research efforts and the provision of individualized treatment for patients suffering from these disorders is vital.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease (AD); Huntington’s disease (HD); Parkinson’s disease (PD); aging neurocognitive disorders; apathy; dementia; frontotemporal dementia (FTD); pharmacological treatments.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA 2009 Flow Diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Winblad B., Engedal K., Soininen H., Verhey F., Waldemar G., Wimo A., Wetterholm A.-L., Zhang R., Haglund A., Subbiah P., et al. A 1-year, randomized, placebo-controlled study of donepezil in patients with mild to moderate AD. Neurology. 2001;57:489–495. doi: 10.1212/WNL.57.3.489. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cummings J.L., Diaz C., Levy M., Binetti G., Litvan I.I. Behavioral syndromes in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Frequency and Significance. Semin. Clin. Neuropsychiatry. 1996;1:241–247. - PubMed
    1. Mega M.S., Cummings J.L., Fiorello T., Gornbein J. The spectrum of behavioral changes in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology. 1996;46:130–135. doi: 10.1212/WNL.46.1.130. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lyketsos C.G., Steinberg M., Tschanz J.T., Norton M.C., Steffens D.C., Breitner J.C. Mental and Behavioral Disturbances in Dementia: Findings From the Cache County Study on Memory in Aging. Am. J. Psychiatry. 2000;157:708–714. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.157.5.708. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lyketsos C.G., Carrillo M.C., Ryan J.M., Khachaturian A.S., Trzepacz P., Amatniek J., Cedarbaum J., Brashear R., Miller D.S. Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2011;7:532–539. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.05.2410. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources