Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal Dementia

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Signs and Symptoms

In the past, patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) often were misdiagnosed with depression, schizophrenia or Alzheimer's disease. Because some FTD cases still may be misidentified, doctors at the UCSF Center for Memory and Aging say it's difficult to determine the prevalence of the disorder. Some estimate that the disease may represent 10 percent to 20 percent of dementia cases.

Early symptoms of frontotemporal dementia typically involve personality or mood changes such as depression and withdrawal, sometimes obsessive behavior and language difficulties. Many patients lose their inhibitions and exhibit antisocial behavior. At the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, doctors have identified a small group of patients who develop extraordinary visual or musical creativity, while experiencing language and social impairment.

As FTD progresses, it takes a toll on mental abilities, affecting memory and other functions that are more common in Alzheimer's and other dementias. In Alzheimer's disease, one of the first symptoms is memory loss. With FTD, unusual or antisocial behavior as well as loss of speech or language are usually the first symptoms.

In later stages, patients develop movement disorders such as unsteadiness, rigidity, slowness, twitches, muscle weakness or difficulty swallowing. Some patients develop Lou Gherig's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). People in the final stages of FTD cannot care for themselves.

Behavioral Symptoms

Early signs of frontotemporal dementia may involve the following symptoms:

• Apathy or an unwillingness to talk
• Change in personality and mood, such as depression
• Lack of inhibition or lack of social tact
• Obsessive or repetitive behavior, such as compulsively shaving or collecting items
• Unusual verbal, physical or sexual behavior
• Weight gain due to dramatic overeating

Patients may neglect hygiene and resist encouragement to attend to themselves. They also may lack awareness or concern that their behavior has changed.

At the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, doctors have found a small group of FTD patients who develop new creative skills in music and art. The artistic talents developed when brain cell loss occurred predominantly in the left frontal lobe, which controls functions such as language. It is believed that the right side of the brain regulates more abstract reasoning.

Language Symptoms

Language problems are less common but do occur in the early stages of FTD before other thought processes, such as memory, are affected. Patients may experience difficulty speaking or finding the correct word when naming objects. Difficulties reading and writing then develop. As the disease progresses, less and less language is used, until the patient becomes virtually mute. Other patients may have a severe problem recalling words and understanding word meaning, but continue to have otherwise normal speech.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated May 8, 2007