Abstract
This minimonography presents a comprehensive view of frontotemporal dementia. The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a clinical syndrome within the spectrum of frontotemporal lobar degenerations.
Typical manifestations of bvFTD include early behavioral disturbance, personality changes, cognitive deficits with a dominant impairment of executive functions, and language impairment. MRI typically shows asymmetric atrophy with frontal lobe predominance.
The underlying neuropathology is in up to one half of the cases of a tauopathy, while the most frequent tau negative inclusions are TDP-43 protein deposits. Many patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may develop cognitive and behavioral manifestation similar to bvFTD; these disorders have recently been called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - frontotemporal spectrum disorder.
In conclusion, the most important differential diagnose are discussed: frontal variant of Alzheimer's disease and psychiatric disorders mimicking bvFTD.