Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T02:13:47.912Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Frontal assessment battery and brain perfusion imaging in Alzheimer's disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2012

Etsuko Oshima
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Seishi Terada*
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Shuhei Sato
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Chikako Ikeda
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Shigeto Nagao
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Naoya Takeda
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Hajime Honda
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Osamu Yokota
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
Yosuke Uchitomi
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Seishi Terada, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. Phone: +81-86-235-7242; Fax: +81-86-235-7246. Email: [email protected].

Abstract

Background: The frontal assessment battery (FAB) is reported to be a useful tool for assessing frontal dysfunction. However, the neural substrates involved in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to identify the regional perfusion patterns of the brain associated with performance scores on the FAB of patients with AD using brain perfusion assessed by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).

Methods: Twenty-four AD patients with high scores and 24 age- and sex-matched AD patients with low scores on the FAB were selected from 470 consecutive Japanese patients of the Memory Clinic of Okayama University Hospital. All 48 participants underwent brain SPECT with 99mTc-ethylcysteinate dimer, and the SPECT images were analyzed by statistical parametric mapping.

Results: No significant differences were found between high and low FAB scoring groups with respect to Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination scores, Mini-Mental State Examination scores, or the depression score of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory subscale. Compared with patients with high scores on the FAB, AD patients with low scores showed significant hypoperfusion in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) extending to the left SFG.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that functional activity of the SFG and MFG is closely related to the FAB score. The FAB might be a promising strategy to detect early stages of AD with low SFG and MFG function.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amador-Ortiz, C. et al. (2007). TDP-43 immunoreactivity in hippocampal sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology, 61, 435445. doi:10.1002/ana.21154.Google Scholar
Bak, T. H., Rogers, T. T., Crawford, L. M., Hearn, V. C., Mathuranath, P. S. and Hodges, J. R. (2005). Cognitive bedside assessment in atypical parkinsonian syndromes. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 76, 420422. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2003.029595.Google Scholar
Bigio, E. H. et al. (2010). TDP-43 pathology in primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia with pathologic Alzheimer disease. Acta Neuropathologica, 120, 4354. doi:10.1007/s00401-010-0681-2.Google Scholar
Castiglioni, S. et al. (2006). The frontal assessment battery does not differentiate frontotemporal dementia from Alzheimer's disease. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 22, 125131. doi:10.1159/000093665.Google Scholar
Cummings, J. L., Mega, M., Gray, K., Rosenberg-Thompson, S., Carusi, D. A. and Gornbein, J. (1994). The Neuropsychiatric Inventory: comprehensive assessment of psychopathology in dementia. Neurology, 44, 23082314.Google Scholar
Dai, W., Lopez, O. L., Carmichael, O. T., Becker, J. T., Kuller, L. H. and Gach, H. M. (2009). Mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease: patterns of altered cerebral blood flow at MR imaging. Radiology, 250, 856866. doi:10.1148/radiol.2503080751.Google Scholar
Dubois, B., Slachevsky, A., Litvan, I. and Pillon, B. (2000). The FAB: a frontal assessment battery at bedside. Neurology, 55, 16211626.Google Scholar
Feldman, H. et al. (2001). The disability assessment for dementia scale. A 12-month study of functional ability in mild to moderate severity Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 15, 8995.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. and McHugh, P. R. (1975). “Mini-mental state”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189198.Google Scholar
Friston, K. J., Ashburner, J., Poline, J.-P., Frith, C. D., Heather, J. D. and Frackowiak, R. S. J. (1995a). Spatial realignment and normalization of images. Human Brain Mapping, 2, 165189.Google Scholar
Friston, K. J., Holmes, A. P., Worsley, K. J., Poline, J. B., Frith, C. D. and Frackowiak, R. S. J. (1995b). Statistical parametric maps in functional imaging. A general approach. Human Brain Mapping, 2, 189210.Google Scholar
Guedj, E. et al. (2008). Frontal Assessment Battery is a marker of dorsolateral and medial frontal functions: a SPECT study in frontotemporal dementia. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 273, 8487. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2009.02.001.Google Scholar
Hirono, N. et al. (1997). Japanese version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory: a scoring system for neuropsychiatric disturbance in dementia patients. (In Japanese with English abstract). Brain and Nerve, 49, 266271.Google Scholar
Hokoishi, K. et al. (2001). Interrater reliability of the Physical Self-Maintenance Scale and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale in a variety of health professional representatives. Aging and Mental Health, 5, 3840. doi:10.1080/13607860020020627.Google Scholar
Hu, W. T. et al. (2008). Temporal lobar predominance of TDP-43 neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions in Alzheimer disease. Acta Neuropathologica, 116, 215220. doi:10.1007/s00401-008-0400-4.Google Scholar
Hughes, C. P., Berg, L., Danziger, W. L., Coben, L. A. and Martin, R. L. (1982). A new clinical scale for the staging of dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 566572.Google Scholar
Iavarone, A. et al. (2004). The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB): normative data from an Italian sample and performances of patients with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Functional Neurology, 19, 191195.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. K., Head, E., Kim, R., Starr, A. and Cotman, C. W. (1999). Clinical and pathological evidence for a frontal variant of Alzheimer disease. Archives of Neurology, 56, 12331239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonides, J., Marshuetz, C., Smith, E. E., Reuter-Lorenenz, P. A., Koeppe, R. A. and Hartley, A. (2000). Age differences in behavior and PET activation reveal differences in interference resolution in verbal working memory. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12, 188196.Google Scholar
Josephs, K. A. et al. (2008). Abnormal TDP-43 immunoreactivity in AD modifies clinicopathologic and radiologic phenotype. Neurology, 70, 18501857. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000304041.09418.b1.Google Scholar
Kugo, A. et al. (2007). Japanese version of the Frontal Assessment Battery for dementia. Psychiatry Research, 153, 6975. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2006.04.004.Google Scholar
Kume, K. et al. (2011). Frontal Assessment Battery and brain perfusion images in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Geriatrics and Gerontology International, 11, 7782. doi:10.1111/j.1447-0594.2010.00645.x.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. and Brody, E. M. (1969). Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist, 9, 179186.Google Scholar
Lipton, A. M., Ohman, K. A., Womack, K. B., Hynan, L. S., Ninman, E. T. and Lacritz, L. H. (2005). Subscores of the FAB differentiate frontotemporal lobar degeneration from AD. Neurology, 65, 726731. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000174437.73416.7b.Google Scholar
Mathuranath, P. S., Nestor, P. J., Berrios, G. E., Rakowicz, W. and Hodges, J. R. (2000). A brief cognitive test battery to differentiate Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. Neurology, 55, 16131620.Google Scholar
Matsui, H. et al. (2006). Frontal Assessment Battery and brain perfusion image in Parkinson's disease. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 19, 4145. doi:10.1177/0891988705284714.Google Scholar
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D. and Stadlan, E. M. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 34, 939944.Google Scholar
Mok, V. C. et al. (2004). The validity and reliability of Chinese Frontal Assessment Battery in evaluating executive dysfunction among Chinese patients with small subcortical infarct. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 18, 6874.Google Scholar
Njegovan, V., Hing, M. M., Mitchell, S. L. and Molnar, F. J. (2001). The hierarchy of functional loss associated with cognitive decline in older persons. Journal of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 56, M638M643. doi:10.1093/gerona/56.10.M638.Google Scholar
Paviour, D. C. et al. (2005). Can the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) differentiate bradykinetic rigid syndromes? Relation of the FAB to formal neuropsychological testing. Neurocase, 11, 274282. doi:10.1080/13554790590962933.Google Scholar
Rypma, B. and D'Esposito, M. (2000). Isolating the neural mechanisms of age-related changes in human working memory. Nature Neuroscience, 3, 509515. doi:10.1038/74889.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarazin, M., Pillon, B., Giannakopoulos, P., Rancurel, G., Samson, Y. and Dubois, B. (1998). Clinicometabolic dissociation of cognitive functions and social behavior in frontal lobe lesions. Neurology, 51, 142148.Google Scholar
Slachevsky, A., Villalpando, J. M., Sarazin, M., Hahn-Barma, V., Pillon, B. and Dubois, B. (2004). Frontal Assessment Battery and differential diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease. Archives of Neurology, 61, 11041107.Google Scholar
Taylor, K. I., Probst, A., Miserez, A. R., Monsch, A. U. and Tolnay, M. (2008). Clinical course of neuropathologically confirmed frontal-variant Alzheimer's disease. Nature Clinical Practice Neurology, 4, 226232. doi:10.1038/ncpneuro0746.Google Scholar
Townsend, J., Adamo, M., and Haist, F. (2006). Changing channels: an fMRI study of aging and cross-modal attention shifts. Neuroimage, 31, 16821692. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.01.045.Google Scholar
Woodward, M. C., Jacova, C., Black, S., Kertesz, A., Mackenzie, I. R. and Feldman, H. H. (2010a). Differentiating the frontal variant of Alzheimer's disease. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25, 732738. doi:10.1002/gps.2415.Google Scholar
Woodward, M., Brodaty, H., Boundy, K., Ames, D., Blanch, G., Balshaw, R. and the PRIME Study Group. (2010b). Does executive impairment define a frontal variant of Alzheimer's disease? International Psychogeriatrics, 22, 12801290. doi:10.1017/S1041610210001596.Google Scholar
Yoshida, H. et al. (2009). Frontal Assessment Battery and brain perfusion imaging in early dementia. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 27, 133138. doi:10.1159/000198687.Google Scholar
Yoshida, H. et al. (2010). Validation of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination for detecting early dementia in a Japanese population. Psychiatry Research, 185, 211214. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2009.06.012.Google Scholar