Neuropsychological Features of Common Dementia Syndromes

Abstract

To date, there is no reliable biological markers for the early detection of the neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia in the majority of cases over the age of 65. The clinical neuropsychologic evaluation, thus, has taken on an important role in the assessment of individuals with suspected dementia. This paper discusses the role of neuropsychology in the assessment of dementia and reviews the neouropsychological features that characterize the most common forms of neurodegenerative dementia: Alzheimer's disease (AD), the frontotemporal dementias (FTD), dementia with cortical Lewy bodies (LBD) and vascular dementia (VaD). In the current diagnostic criteria, forms of dementia are differentiated based on etiology. However, there is a group of clinical syndromes that could fail under the rubric of dementia, with respect to their impact on daily living, but would not conform to DSM criteria. The assessment of cognitive function through neouropsychological testing has contributed to the characterization and diagnosis of neurodegenerative and vascular dementia. The gold standard in the diagnosis of dementia is the post mortem neuropathologic examination. The role of neuropsychology is to strive to increase the accuracy of the in vivo diagnosis of dementia so that it predicts the neuropathologic findings. Thus, a need exists for more specialized tools to help differentiate types of dementia and to adequately characterize their cognitive and behavioral profiles.