Apathy

Masud HusainProfessor of Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, expert on motivation and apathy, author of Our Brains, Our Selves

• Husain says apathy and depression are separable, with some people showing pure apathy, others pure depression, and some both.

  “there are some people who have pure apathy, no depression, like David, and there are other people who can be depressed, they can be sad, they can be hopeless about the future”

  Huberman Lab: How to Improve Motivation & Overcome Procrastination | Dr. Masud Husain (Aug 24, 2026) · Listen from 50:23

• Husain recounts that his patient David's apathy, caused by tiny basal ganglia strokes, was reversed after three months on ropinirole when levodopa had failed.

  “three months after we started this medication, he came back. David came back to see us. And I did not recognize this guy in the waiting room”

  Huberman Lab: How to Improve Motivation & Overcome Procrastination | Dr. Masud Husain (Aug 24, 2026) · Listen from 9:53