Scientific Reports (Jun 2017)

Neural basis of self-initiative in relation to apathy in a student sample

  • Claire Kos,
  • Nicky G. Klaasen,
  • Jan-Bernard C. Marsman,
  • Esther M. Opmeer,
  • Henderikus Knegtering,
  • André Aleman,
  • Marie-José van Tol

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03564-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract Human behaviour can be externally driven, e.g. catching a falling glass, or self-initiated and goal-directed, e.g. drinking a cup of coffee when one deems it is time for a break. Apathy refers to a reduction of self-initiated goal-directed or motivated behaviour, frequently present in neurological and psychiatric disorders. The amount of undertaken goal-directed behaviour varies considerably in clinical as well as healthy populations. In the present study, we investigated behavioural and neural correlates of self-initiated action in a student sample (N = 39) with minimal to high levels of apathy. We replicated activation of fronto-parieto-striatal regions during self-initiation. The neural correlates of self-initiated action did not explain varying levels of apathy in our sample, neither when mass-univariate analysis was used, nor when multivariate patterns of brain activation were considered. Other hypotheses, e.g. regarding a putative role of deficits in reward anticipation, effort expenditure or executive difficulties, deserve investigation in future studies.