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5.13 - Apathy, Anhedonia and Fatigue

from 5 - Neural Circuits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2023

By
Jonathan Roiser  and
Masud Husain
Edited by
Mary-Ellen Lynall ,
Peter B. Jones  and
Stephen M. Stahl
Mary-Ellen Lynall
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Peter B. Jones
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Stephen M. Stahl
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Summary

Motivation – the capacity to experience enthusiasm for achieving a goal, which helps to initiate, guide and maintain behaviour – is a fundamental psychological process that serves to enable both survival and thriving in the face of challenge. Loss of motivation can have a debilitating impact on everyday function, resulting in difficulty working, studying and taking care of responsibilities at home; and, in extreme cases, a total loss of motivation results in the absence of any behaviour at all. Disrupted motivation can be expressed through a variety of clinical symptoms, including apathy, anhedonia and fatigue, which tend to cluster together. These motivational symptoms are very common, occurring across a broad range of neuropsychiatric conditions, for example depression, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease, but as yet we have no specific treatments for them. This chapter provides an introduction into research into the neuroscientific and psychological mechanisms underlying motivation, which has yielded important information regarding the key brain circuity and cognitive operations involved. There are several key messages. (i) Motivation is a multifactorial construct, comprising several distinct cognitive operations, and dysfunction in any one of these has the potential to result in motivational symptoms.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Textbook of Neuroscience for Psychiatrists , pp. 233 - 240
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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