Synonyms
Apathy; Athymia; Loss of psychic self-activation; Psychic akinesia
Also spelled Aboulia
Definition
The term is derived from the Greek “boul” (will). Abulia is manifested by lack of motivation; lack of spontaneity in speech and action; deficiency in initiation, inertia, mental, and motor slowness; poor attention; and easy distractibility. Inactivity comes from an inability to select a course of action, although a wish to participate may be present. Some research indicates that abulia occurs due to malfunction of the brain’s dopamine-dependent circuitry. In neurologic diseases, it is associated with bilateral lesions in the medial or orbital frontal lobes. The following criteria have been suggested for the diagnosis of abulia: (i) decreased spontaneity in activity and speech; (ii) prolonged latency in responding to queries, directions, and other stimuli; and (iii) reduced ability to persist with a task.
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Piryatinsky, I. (2018). Abulia. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1874
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1874
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