Cognition, language, and clinical pathological features of non-Alzheimer's dementias: An overview

Abstract

There are many distinct forms of dementia whose pharmacological and behavioral management differ. Differential diagnosis among the dementia variants currently relies upon a weighted combination of genetic and protein biomarkers, neuroanatomical integrity, and behavior. Diagnostic specificity is complicated by a high degree of overlap in the initial presenting symptoms across dementia subtypes. For this reason, reliable markers are of considerable diagnostic value. Communication disorders have proven to be among the strongest predictors for discriminating among dementia subtypes. As such, Speech-Language Pathologists may be poised to make an increasingly visible contribution to dementia diagnosis and its ongoing management. The value and durability of this potential contribution, however, demands an improved disciplinewide knowledge base about the unique features associated with different dementia variants. To this end we provide an overview of cognition, language, and clinical pathological features of four of the most common non-Alzheimer's dementias: Frontotemporal Dementia, Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Disease Dementia, and Parkinson's Disease Dementia.

Trajectories of cognitive decline in different types of dementia

“…Fluency tasks address both language and executive functioning and therefore how to interpret fluency tasks is open to debate. As expected, lvFTD was, at baseline, most impaired in language (Reilly et al 2010;Karantzoulis & Galvin, 2011), which declined further over time. In bvFTD and lvFTD, visuospatial functioning was relatively preserved and showed limited decline over time (Reilly et al 2010;Karantzoulis & Galvin, 2011).…”

“…As expected, lvFTD was, at baseline, most impaired in language (Reilly et al 2010;Karantzoulis & Galvin, 2011), which declined further over time. In bvFTD and lvFTD, visuospatial functioning was relatively preserved and showed limited decline over time (Reilly et al 2010;Karantzoulis & Galvin, 2011). This might be due to the sparing of anatomical regions associated with visuospatial abilities, such as the parieto-occipital lobes (McGinnis, 2012).…”

Time to diagnosis in young-onset dementia as compared with late-onset dementia

“…VaD appeared to be diagnosed earlier in comparison with AD. This trend may be a function of the more abrupt onset of the disease when it was due to cerebrovascular accidents, the presence of neurological symptoms, or its potentially more fluctuating course (Reilly et al 2010). Higher education levels and female gender were hypothesized to facilitate earlier recognition and help-seeking behaviour (Tijhuis et al 1990 ;Mackenzie et al 2006 ;Tedstone Doherty & Kartalova-O'Doherty, 2010).…”

Narrativity and Memory Analysis in Alzheimer’s Disease

“…In the earliest stages, it is slight but it increases in time through foreseeable phases [17] [18] [19] [20]. Memory dysfunction also interferes with language possibilities [21]. Knowing the importance of both these components could help to prepare as well as possible for the consequences on the patient's social life [22] [23] [24].…”