This study was designed to evaluate the association of different apathy conceptual domains with central fatigue perception in Parkinson's disease (PD), taking into consideration other nonmotor symptoms. To this end, 90 consecutive PD patients (66.7% men, mean age 61.44 ± 13.2 years) underwent a comprehensive neurological and psychiatric examination, including the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Parkinson Fatigue Scale, Lille Apathy Rating Scale, Hamilton Depression Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. A linear regression model was applied to analyze the relationship between apathy and its different conceptual domains with fatigue severity. Thirty-seven (41.1%) patients presented fatigue. Its presence was associated with higher apathy total scores and with 2 of the 4 apathy conceptual domains (less intellectual curiosity and action initiation) with no associations in the emotion and self-awareness apathy domains. Patients with fatigue scored higher in depression (p < .001), anxiety trait (p < .001), and anxiety state (p = .006). Regression analysis identified that Lille Apathy Rating Scale total score (p = .008), intellectual curiosity and action initiation apathy subscores (p = .001 and p = .003) were associated with fatigue severity in patients with right predominant motor symptoms. Sex, age, disease duration, clinical stage, motor complications, prior psychiatric disorders, and treatment were not significantly associated with presence of fatigue. The findings suggest that some apathy-related domains are more frequent in fatigued PD and may be related with fatigue severity.

Short- and long-latency auditory evoked potentials (SAEPs and LAEPs), visual-evoked potentials (VEPs), and contingent negative variation (CNV) were studied in 32 chronic alcoholics and their age-, sex-, and education-matched control subjects. The alcoholics exhibited a delayed SAEP peak V and an increase in the III-V and I-V intervals, increased VEP P100 latency, increased LAEP N2 and P3 latencies and increased LAEP N1-P2 amplitude. The analysis of the anomalies at a clinical level indicates a differential sensitivity of the event-related potentials. The parameters most sensitive to chronic alcohol consumption were (in descending order) P3 latency, peak V latency, the I-V and III-V intervals, and P100 latency.

To test different versions of the premature aging hypothesis in alcoholics, brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs), long-latency auditory evoked potentials (LAEPs), P3 and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded in 32 alcoholic subjects. The phenomena in patients’ event-related potentials (ERPs) differ from those observed in normal aging subjects and become more pronounced with age. ANOVA showed a significant effect by group (alcoholic patients/controls) on certain parameters of BAEPs (III, III-V, I-V), VEPs (P100 latency) and LAEPs (Nl-P2 amplitude and N2 latency) unaffected by age, while age had a significant effect on some parameters of LAEPs (N2-P3 amplitude, P3 latency) unaffected, or less affected by chronic alcohol consumption. At a clinical level, abnormalities in BAEPs and VEPs seem good early trouble indices in alcoholic patients, while alterations in latencies and amplitudes of LAEPs appear in older patients. These data seem to be in favor of a critical age or critical abuse in the action of alcohol, in place of the classical hypothesis of premature aging.