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Avolition

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

  • 12 Accesses

Synonyms

Apathy

Definition

Avolition is a severe problem with initiation, volitional or willed action, and production of goal-directed behavior. It may reflect a general lack of motivation and drive. Avolition is commonly seen as one of the negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and is also common in frontal lobe disorders affecting medial frontal systems.

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Further Reading

  • Foussias, G., & Remington, G. (2008). Negative symptoms in schizophrenia: Avolition and Occam’s Razor. Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access. 10. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbn094.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Liddle, P. F. (1994). Volition and schizophrenia. In A. S. David & J. C. Cutting (Eds.), The neuropsychology of schizophrenia (pp. 39–48). Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rummel, C., Kissling, W., & Leucht, S. (2005). Antidepressants as add-on treatment to antipsychotics for people with schizophrenia and pronounced negative symptoms: A systematic review of randomized trials. Schizophrenia Research, 80, 85–97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Butler Hospital and Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Irene Piryatinsky

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Paul Malloy

Authors
  1. Irene Piryatinsky
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  2. Paul Malloy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irene Piryatinsky .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Independent Practice, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Cite this entry

Piryatinsky, I., Malloy, P. (2018). Avolition. 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_1880

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