title: Repetitive and compulsive behavior in frontal lobe degenerations.
abstract: The authors review the relationship of repetitive behaviors to frontal lobe degenerations and report the repetitive and compulsive behaviors, radiologic imaging findings, and neuropathology of 3 patients with dementia secondary to frontal lobe degeneration. These 3 patients and 78% of 46 proven pathologic cases of frontal lobe degeneration described in the literature demonstrate repetitive behaviors ranging from motor stereotypies to complex obsessive-compulsive disorder. This review suggests that combined damage to the frontal lobe, caudate nucleus, and globus pallidus may account for the repetitive behaviors seen in frontal lobe degenerations, idiopathic obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other neuropsychiatric diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ames
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Wirshing
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012008:Recurrence; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon