BMC Psychology
Apathy in older adults is associated with selective overweighting of effort during decisions between everyday activities
Abstract Apathy, characterized by reduced motivation and goal-directed behavior, is common in normal aging and may arise from biased cost–benefit evaluation during decision making. While prior research has focused on simple choices involving the trade-off between motor or cognitive effort and monetary reward, real-life decisions of people with apathy likely reflect biases affecting many other dimensions of value. Additionally, the extent to which mood symptoms that frequently co-occur with apathy also contribute to …