Co-Occurrence of Language and Behavioural Change in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the co-occurrence of language and behavioural impairment in patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) spectrum pathology. METHODS: Eighty-one dementia patients with pathological confirmation of FTLD were identified. Anonymized clinical records from patients' first assessment were rated for language and behavioural features from frontotemporal dementia consensus criteria, primary progressive aphasia (PPA) criteria and 1998 FTLD criteria. RESULTS: Over 90% of patients with FTLD pathology exhibited a combination of at least one behavioural and one language feature. Changes in language, in particular, were commonly accompanied by behavioural change. Notably, the majority of patients who displayed language features characteristic of semantic variant PPA exhibited ‘early perseverative, stereotyped or compulsive/ritualistic behaviour’. Moreover, ‘executive/generation deficits with relative sparing of memory and visuospatial functions’ occurred in most patients with core features of non-fluent variant PPA. CONCLUSION: Behavioural and language symptoms frequently co-occur in patients with FTLD pathology. Current classifications, which separate behavioural and language syndromes, do not reflect this co-occurrence.