On the relation among mood, apathy, and anosognosia in Alzheimer's disease.

This review explores the relationships between depression, apathy, and anosognosia in Alzheimer's disease. Depressed mood is found to be associated with less anosognosia, while greater apathy is associated with more anosognosia, and the contrasting reasons for these associations are discussed. The review also describes recent research findings indicating a dissociation between impaired awareness of condition/deficit and preserved emotional reactivity in response to illness-related material or the experience of failure in tests. We conclude by pointing to future directions for this area of research and clinical implications.