title: Dissociable executive functions in behavioral variant frontotemporal and Alzheimer dementias.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to determine which aspects of executive functions are most affected in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and best differentiate this syndrome from Alzheimer disease (AD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared executive functions in 22 patients diagnosed with bvFTD, 26 with AD, and 31 neurologically healthy controls using a conceptually driven and comprehensive battery of executive function tests, the NIH EXAMINER battery (http://examiner.ucsf.edu).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The bvFTD and the AD patients were similarly impaired compared with controls on tests of working memory, category fluency, and attention, but the patients with bvFTD showed significantly more severe impairments than the patients with AD on tests of letter fluency, antisaccade accuracy, social decision-making, and social behavior. Discriminant function analysis with jackknifed cross-validation classified the bvFTD and AD patient groups with 73% accuracy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Executive function assessment can support bvFTD diagnosis when measures are carefully selected to emphasize frontally specific functions.
authors: Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, USA. kpossin@memory.ucsf.edu
authors: Katherine L
authors: KL
authors: Possin
authors: Dana
authors: D
authors: Feigenbaum
authors: Katherine P
authors: KP
authors: Rankin
authors: Glenn E
authors: GE
authors: Smith
authors: Adam L
authors: AL
authors: Boxer
authors: Kristie
authors: K
authors: Wood
authors: Sherrie M
authors: SM
authors: Hanna
authors: Bruce L
authors: BL
authors: Miller
authors: Joel H
authors: JH
authors: Kramer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012919:Social Behavior
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