title: Differentiating the dementias. Revisiting synucleinopathies and tauopathies.
abstract: Dementia is a common, chronic and progressive illness. Many different types of dementia exist. It is important to have knowledge of the various dementia presentations so that the clinician can differentiate one type from another. Past and current approaches of classifying dementias are reviewed in this paper. The past cortical/subcortical scheme is reviewed as well as the current synucleinopathy/tauopathy scheme. This paper focuses on the most common synucleinopathies and tauopathies including Alzheimer's Dementia, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Parkinson's Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multiple System Atrophy and Corticobasal Ganglionic Degeneration. We systematically approach each dementia and review cognitive, psychiatry and neurological features of each. We also compare and contrast each dementia and the synucleinopathies and taupoathies alike. Our goal is to provide the clinician with sufficient knowledge to competently and confidently diagnose a patient who presents with progressive cognitive decline and deterioration in functioning.
authors.affiliation: Dalhousie University, Mount Hope Building, Nova Scotia Hospital, Dartmouth, NS, Canada. Catherine.Hickey@cdha.nshealth.ca
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hickey
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chisholm
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Passmore
authors.forename: Jonathon Darcy
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnston
mesh_terms: D003704:Dementia / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology*; D051843:Synucleins / Q000378:metabolism*; D024801:Tauopathies / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051843:Synucleins; D016875:tau Proteins