There are many characteristics that indicate early signs of dementia. People often look for signs of forgetfulness or an increase in memory lapses as a major indicator. Recent studies have shown that another indicator for dementia is linked to changes in mood, specifically as it relates to apathy.
A recent 2020 study suggests that an unexplained lack of interest in usual activities could be an early indicator of dementia. Apathy, which the authors define as decreased motivation and goal-directed behavior, is separate from but often found in conjunction with depression. Previous research has shown apathy as a common factor across multiple conditions of dementia, but this is the first study to investigate its role as an early symptom signaling the onset of a disease.
A key finding is that people who had severe apathy at the beginning of the study were twice as likely to develop dementia over the 9 years of the study as compared to those not showing signs of apathy at baseline. Even though apathy is not a sole indicator, it still could be an important early warning sign for doctors to consider in caring for patients. Learn more about the study at this link.