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Comparison of neuropsychological functioning in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2009

Nancy Ann Pachana ,
Kyle Brauer Boone ,
Bruce L. Miller ,
Jeffrey L. Cummings  and
Nancy Berman
Nancy Ann Pachana
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Kyle Brauer Boone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
Bruce L. Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
Jeffrey L. Cummings
Affiliation:
Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, and Behavioral Neuroscience Section, Psychiatry Service, West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Nancy Berman
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509
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Abstract

Neuropsychological changes distinguishing mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) from frontotemporal dementia (FTD) have been described, but empirical verification of differential cognitive characteristics is lacking. Archival neuropsychological data on 15 FTD patients, 16 AD patients, and 16 controls were compared. Controls outperformed both patient groups on measures of verbal and nonverbal memory, executive ability, and constructional skill, with AD patients showing more widespread memory decline. No differences were found between the 3 groups in confrontation naming, recognition memory, or basic attention. Patient groups differed only in nonverbal memory, with FTD patients performing significantly better than AD patients. However, patient groups also differed in pattern of performance across executive and memory domains. Specifically, AD patients exhibited significantly greater impairment on memory than executive tasks, whereas the opposite pattern characterized ther FTD group. These findings suggest that examination of relative rankings of scores across cognitive domains, in addition to interpretation of individual neuropsychological scores, may be useful in differential diagnosis of FTD versus AD. (JINS, 1996, 2, 505–510.)

Keywords

Frontotemporal degenerationAlzheimer's disease. Executive functionsMemory
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 2 , Issue 6 , November 1996 , pp. 505 - 510
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 1996

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