Athymhormia

Athymhormia is a disorder of motivation, one of that class of neuro-psychiatricconditionsmarked by abnormalities or deficiencies in motivation. Symptoms include the lossor reductionof desireand interesttoward previous motivations, loss of drive and the desire for satisfaction, curiosity, the loss of tastesand preferences, and flattened affect. In athymhormia, however, these phenomena are not accompanied by the characterizing features of depressionnor by any notable abnormality in intellectualor cognitivefunction.

Origin of diagnostic category

The diagnosticcategory was coined in 1922by the FrenchpsychiatristsDide and Guiraud, originally in reference to the behavior identified in some schizophrenicpatients.

Etiology

The etiologyof this condition has been hypothesisedto derive from abnomalities in the limbicfrontal cortex, the striatum, globus pallidus, and dorso-medialthalamic nucleus. In the context of the theory of those who propose the existence of a distinct neural pathwayfor mood and interest, or the "hormothymic" system, athymhormia may be a disorder of this system.

Further reading

• Patrick Verstichel and Pascale Larrouy. "Drowning Mr. M." Scientific American Mind. April 2005.

External links

• Habib M, Poncet M. Loss of vitality, of interest and of the affect (athymhormia syndrome) in lacunar lesions of the corpus striatum. Rev Neurol (Paris). 1988;144(10):571-7.(article in French, abstract in English)
• Current Journal: Current Opinion in Neurology - Volume 15(1)
• Text of the William Feinberg Lecture 2002
• "Athymhormia and Disorders of Motivation in Basal Ganglia Disease"

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athymhormia Wikipedia article Athymhormia.