Presenting Neuropsychological Testing Profile of Autopsy-Confirmed Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

Abstract

Aims: We aimed to investigate how neuropsychological test measures at presentation might differentiate frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) from Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: We compared autopsy-confirmed FTLD and definite AD with Clinical Dementia Rating ≤1. Factor scores and t values of each neuropsychological test measure were compared between FTLD and AD patients. Logistic regression analyses were applied to identify independent predictors within test measures for the differentiation of FTLD from AD. Results: Factor analyses showed that the memory domain was more severely impaired in AD than in FTLD, whereas the language and attention domains were more severely impaired in FTLD than in AD. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that Letter Fluency, Boston Naming Test and delayed memory recall remained independent predictors of FTLD compared to AD. However, test measures did not discriminate between FTLD-tau and FTLD-ubiquitin. Conclusion: We confirm that memory and language function tests discriminate between FTLD and AD.