Dataset Information

A systematic review of neurotransmitter deficits and treatments in frontotemporal dementia.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To evaluate neurotransmitter deficiencies and neurotransmitter-based treatments for frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Methods

The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature on the mechanism and treatment of FTD and a meta-analysis of treatment studies of antidepressants for the behavioral symptoms of FTD.

Results

Patients with FTD show deficiencies in the serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitter systems, while the acetylcholine system appears relatively intact. Antidepressant treatment significantly improves behavioral symptoms in FTD, but most studies are small and uncontrolled. Serotonergic treatments appear to improve the behavioral but not cognitive symptoms of FTD.

Conclusions

Studies of neurotransmitter deficiencies in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) can be helpful in developing treatments. Treatment studies on FTD are scarce, given the prevalence and severity of this illness. Larger, well-controlled treatment studies are required to reach more definitive conclusions about treatment efficacy. Multicenter studies are likely the best way to complete treatment studies in a timely manner.

SUBMITTER: Huey ED

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4499854 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A systematic review of neurotransmitter deficits and treatments in frontotemporal dementia.

Huey Edward D ED Putnam Karen T KT Grafman Jordan J

Neurology 20060101 1

<h4>Objective</h4>To evaluate neurotransmitter deficiencies and neurotransmitter-based treatments for frontotemporal dementia (FTD).<h4>Methods</h4>The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature on the mechanism and treatment of FTD and a meta-analysis of treatment studies of antidepressants for the behavioral symptoms of FTD.<h4>Results</h4>Patients with FTD show deficiencies in the serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitter systems, while the acetylcholine system appears relatively i ...[more]

PMID: 16401839

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundCurrent tasks measuring social cognition are usually 'pen and paper' tasks, have ceiling effects and include complicated test instructions that may be difficult to understand for those with cognitive impairment. We therefore aimed to develop a set of simple, instructionless, quantitative, tasks of emotion recognition using the methodology of eye tracking, with the subsequent aim of assessing their utility in individuals with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).MethodsUsing the Eyelink 1000 Plus eye tracker, 18 bvFTD and 22 controls completed tasks of simple and complex emotion recognition that involved viewing four images (one target face (simple) or pair of eyes (complex) and the others non-target) followed by a target emotion word and lastly the original four images alongside the emotion word. A dwell time change score was then calculated as the main outcome measure by subtracting the percentage dwell time for the target image before the emotion word appeared away from the percentage dwell time for the target image after the emotion word appeared. All participants also underwent a standard cognitive battery and volumetric T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsAnalysis using a mixed effects model showed that the average (standard deviation) mean dwell time change score in the target interest area was 35 (27)% for the control group compared with only 4 (18)% for the bvFTD group (p < 0.05) for the simple emotion recognition task, and 15 (26)% for the control group compared with only 2 (18)% for the bvFTD group (p < 0.05) for the complex emotion recognition task. Worse performance in the bvFTD group correlated with atrophy in the right ventromedial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, brain regions previously implicated in social cognition.ConclusionsIn summary, eye tracking is a viable tool for assessing social cognition in individuals with bvFTD, being well-tolerated and able to overcome some of the problems associated with standard psychometric tasks.

Project description:Apathy is one of the six clinical criteria for the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), and it is almost universal in this disease. Although its consequences in everyday life are debilitating, its underlying mechanisms are poorly known, its assessment is biased by subjectivity and its care management is very limited. In this context, we have developed "ECOCAPTURE," a method aimed at providing quantifiable and objective signature(s) of apathy in order to assess it and identify its precise underlying mechanisms. ECOCAPTURE consists of the observation and recording of the patient's behavior when the participant is being submitted to a multiple-phase scenario reproducing a brief real-life situation. It is performed in a functional exploration platform transformed into a fully furnished waiting room equipped with a video and sensor-based data acquisition system. This multimodal method allowed video-based behavior analyses according to predefined behavioral categories (exploration behavior, sustained activities or inactivity) and actigraphy analyses from a 3D accelerometer. The data obtained were also correlated with behavioral/cognitive tests and scales assessing global cognitive efficiency, apathy, cognitive disinhibition, frontal syndrome, depression and anxiety. Here, bvFTD patients (n = 14) were compared to healthy participants (n = 14) during the very first minutes of the scenario, when the participants discovered the room and were encouraged to explore it. We showed that, in the context of facing a new environment, healthy participants first explored it and then engaged in sustained activities. By contrast, bvFTD patients were mostly inactive and eventually explored this new place, but in a more irregular and less efficient mode than normal subjects. This exploration deficit was correlated with apathy, disinhibition and cognitive and behavioral dysexecutive syndromes. These findings led us to discuss the presumed underlying mechanisms responsible for the exploration deficit (an inability to self-initiate actions, to integrate reward valuation and to inhibit involuntary behavior). Altogether, these results pave the way for simple and objective assessment of behavioral changes that represents a critical step for the evaluation of disease progression and efficacy of treatment in bvFTD.

Dataset Information

A systematic review of neurotransmitter deficits and treatments in frontotemporal dementia.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

A systematic review of neurotransmitter deficits and treatments in frontotemporal dementia.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets