title: Frontotemporal dementia.
abstract: Frontotemporal dementia is an umbrella clinical term that encompasses a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterised by progressive deficits in behaviour, executive function, or language. Frontotemporal dementia is a common type of dementia, particularly in patients younger than 65 years. The disease can mimic many psychiatric disorders because of the prominent behavioural features. Various underlying neuropathological entities lead to the frontotemporal dementia clinical phenotype, all of which are characterised by the selective degeneration of the frontal and temporal cortices. Genetics is an important risk factor for frontotemporal dementia. Advances in clinical, imaging, and molecular characterisation have increased the accuracy of frontotemporal dementia diagnosis, thus allowing for the accurate differentiation of these syndromes from psychiatric disorders. As the understanding of the molecular basis for frontotemporal dementia improves, rational therapies are beginning to emerge.
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spina
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: bruce.miller@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Bruce L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D001037:Aphasia; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D016472:Motor Neuron Disease; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis