Neuroanatomical correlates of apathy and disinhibition in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia

• Published in: Brain imaging and behavior Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 2004 - 2011
• Main Authors: Sheelakumari, Raghavan, Bineesh, Cheminnikara, Varghese, Tinu, Kesavadas, Chandrasekharan, Verghese, Joe, Mathuranath, Pavagada S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abnormalities; Anatomy; Anisotropy; Apathy; Behavior rating scales; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - pathology; Brain - physiopathology; Brain architecture; Correlation analysis; Cortex; Degeneration; Dementia; Dementia disorders; Emotional behavior; Female; Frontotemporal dementia; Frontotemporal Dementia - diagnostic imaging; Frontotemporal Dementia - pathology; Frontotemporal Dementia - physiopathology; Frontotemporal Dementia - psychology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical instruments; Middle Aged; Morphometry; Neurodegeneration; Neuroimaging; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuropsychology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Original Research; Psychiatry; Substantia alba; Substantia grisea; Temporal lobe; Fractional anisotropy; Frontal system Behavioral scale; Behavioral variant FTD; Inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus
• ISSN: 1931-7557; 1931-7565; 1931-7565
• DOI: 10.1007/s11682-019-00150-3

Neuroanatomical correlates of apathy and disinhibition, behavioral abnormalities in behavioral variant Frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) remain unclear. In this study 45 participants (25 bvFTD patients and 20 controls) provided data on clinical, neuropsychological, behavioral (on Frontal Systems Behavior (FrSBe) Scale), cortical volume (on voxel-based morphometry (VBM)) and tract based spatial fractional anisotropy ((FA) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), allowing examination of the neural correlates of apathy and disinhibition. The patients with bvFTD had predominant grey matter loss and corresponding white matter fractional anisotropy reduction in the frontal and temporal lobe compared to the controls. Grey matter loss in frontal, temporal and limbic structures correlated with apathy and degeneration in temporal limbic brain areas correlated with disinhibition. FA changes in inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and forceps minor correlated with apathy and fibre integrity changes in the superior longitudinal fasciculus correlated with disinhibition. The current study suggests that apathy and disinhibition arises due to changes in the frontal, temporal and limbic brain areas  in bvFTD.