title: A case of apathy due to frontotemporal dementia responsive to memantine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effect of memantine on apathy, a common symptom of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The patient underwent an off-label trial of memantine with behavioral inventories and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scans performed at baseline, 7 weeks and 6 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patient was a 66-year-old male whose main manifestation of bvFTD was affective, behavioral and cognitive apathy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patient began memantine at an oral dose of 5 mg per morning and titrated up by 5 mg per week to the maintenance dose of 10 mg PO bid.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Informants reported reduction of the apathy. The insula and cerebellum, both involved in the salience network, showed improved metabolism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further study to correlate the effects of memantine on apathy and the salience network in bvFTD are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Baycrest, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Kira A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Links
authors.forename: Sandra E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Graff-Guerrero
authors.forename: Alan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Houle
authors.forename: Bruce G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.forename: Tiffany W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chow
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D057565:Apathy / Q000187:drug effects*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000209:etiology; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008559:Memantine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography
chemical_list: D015259:Dopamine Agents; D008559:Memantine