Reliability and validity of the brief dimensional apathy scale.

Objective: Apathy is composed of different demotivational subtypes measurable by the dimensional apathy scale (DAS) and can be quickly assessed using the brief DAS (b-DAS). The aim was to determine the reliability and validity of the b-DAS.

Methods: 53 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and 53 of their informants were recruited.

The Impact of Cognitive and Behavioral Symptoms on ALS Patients and Their Caregivers.

Previously thought to be a pure motor disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is now established as multisystem neurodegenerative disorder that lies on a continuum with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Cognitive and behavioral symptoms primarily extend to executive function, personality, social conduct, and emotion processing. The assessment and management of cognitive and behavioral symptoms is complicated as they must be differentiated from psychological responses to a terminal diagnosis and progressive physical impairment.