Apathy and depression: Which clinical specificities?

The link between anhedonia and apathy highlights the difference between the consumption and programming of pleasure. The cognitive impairments of apathetic depressed patients may have an impact on their ability to allocate resources appropriately. The relationship between anxiety and apathy has been discussed in light of lack of insight. Taken together, results indicate that the apathy dimension subtends two clinical profiles of depression, which can be viewed as different pathophysiological clusters, as they probably affect two distinct networks. Further studies are needed to test this clinical hypothesis in the light of neurobiology.