Apathy and Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a craniocerebral trauma associated with decreased level of consciousness, amnesia, and potential abnormalities on neuroimaging. Apathy is a common symptom after TBI with a wide prevalence range (11–71%), which may be due to assessment, overlapping symptoms with depression, time since injury, and severity of injury. There is a dearth of studies exploring the neurobiology of apathy after TBI but patterns indicate the involvement of the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula. These areas are also commonly disrupted after a TBI. Little is known regarding the neuropsychology of apathy and TBI with some evidence of executive dysfunction and acquisition memory deficits. Similarly, there is limited evidence for treatment of apathy after TBI. Many interventions implemented to date were based on empirically based interventions for neurodegenerative disorders. This review is intended to raise clinicians’ awareness of apathy after TBI and encourage researchers to explore this emerging phenomenon.