Behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia: Distinct phenotypes with unique functional profiles.

Objective: To identify distinct behavioral phenotypes of behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and to elucidate differences in functional, neuroimaging, and progression to residential care placement.

Methods: Eighty-eight patients with bvFTD were included in a cluster analysis applying levels of disinhibition and apathy (Cambridge Behavioural Inventory-Revised) to identify phenotypic subgroups. Between-group (Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney ) functional differences (Disability Assessment for Dementia) and time to residential care placement (survival analyses) were examined.

Cognitive and Behavioral Symptoms in ALSFTD: Detection, Differentiation, and Progression.

Brief screening tools that detect and differentiate patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALSFTD) from those more subtle cognitive or behavioral symptoms (ALS plus) and motor symptoms only (ALS pure) is pertinent in a clinical setting. The utility of 2 validated and data-driven tests (Mini-Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination [M-ACE] and Motor Neuron Disease Behavioral Scale [MiND-B]) was investigated in 70 ALS patients (24 ALSFTD, 19 ALS plus, and 27 ALS pure). More than 90% of patients with ALSFTD scored at or below the cutoff on the M-ACE, whereas this was seen in only about 20% of ALS patients without dementia.

When one loses empathy: its effect on carers of patients with dementia.

The effects of empathy loss in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer disease (AD) on carer symptomatology were investigated. Carers of patients with 2 clinical subtypes of FTD (behavioral-variant FTD [bvFTD] = 18; semantic dementia [SD] = 14) and AD (n = 18) completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a standardized questionnaire of empathy as well as a measure of perceived burden (Zarit Burden Interview) and the quality of the marital relationship (Intimate Bond Measure). Patient ratings were also obtained on the IRI.