title: Frontal assessment battery and brain perfusion imaging in early dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The frontal assessment battery (FAB) is reported to be a useful tool for screening frontal function. However, the neural substrates involved remain to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to identify the brain regions responsible for FAB performance in patients with early dementia. We sought a correlation between FAB scores and brain perfusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 117 subjects participated in this study (Alzheimer's disease = 51, frontotemporal dementia = 14, vascular dementia = 13, dementia with Lewy bodies = 7, psychiatric disease = 7, mild cognitive impairment = 11, controls = 14). They underwent brain single photon emission computed tomography with (99m)Tc-ethylcisteinate dimer, and we analyzed the data, using a regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) quantification software program, 3DSRT (3-dimensional stereotaxic region of interest template).
  
  
  RESULTS
  FAB scores had a moderately positive correlation with left callosomarginal and precentral rCBF. Comparison of rCBF between high- and low-scoring FAB groups revealed that the latter showed significantly lower rCBF in the bilateral callosomarginal and left precentral regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results in this study suggest that the FAB mainly reflects the function of the callosomarginal and precentral segments, especially the left side, and that it might be a valid frontal lobe function test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Seishi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Terada
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: Toshie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ata
authors.forename: Etsuko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ohshima
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: Shigetoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuroda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon