Brain structural signatures of executive and social cognition profiles in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and elderly bipolar disorder

SANDRA BÁEZ; FERRARI, JESICA; CRUZ, FRANCY; MARCELO CETKOVICH; TERESA TORRALVA; MARÍA ROCA; INDIRA GARCÍA-CORDERO; DIANA MATALLANA; PINASCO, CLARA; BLAS COUTO; PABLO REYES; FACUNDO MANES

Munich

Congreso; 10th International Conference on Frontotemporal Dementias; 2016

Frequently, the initial clinical presentation of the behavioral variant frontotemporal is frequently the presence of a constellation of psychiatric symptoms or behavioral disorders mimicking those found in bipolar disorder (BD), making its differential diagnosis a big challenge. However, no studies have compared these pathologies from neuropsychological and neuroanatomical perspectives.The aim of the present study was to compare the neuropsychological and social cognition profiles as well as the structural neuroimaging of bvFTD and elderly patients with BD. First, we compared the executive and social cognition performances of 16 bvFTD patients, 13 BD patients and 22 healthy controls. Second, we compared grey matter volumes in both groups of patients and controls using voxelbased morphometry. Finally, we examined the brain regions where atrophy might be associated with specific impairments in bvFTD and BD patients. Compared to controls, bvFTD patients showed deficits in working memory, abstraction capacity, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, verbal fluency and theory of mind (ToM). No significant differences were observed in the executive or social cognition performances of BD patients and controls. In bvFTD patients, atrophy of frontal (orbitofrontal, inferior frontal gyrus),temporal (superior and inferior temporal gyri, amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampal and fusiform gyri) and insular cortices was related to executive functions deficits. Atrophy of amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, putamen, insula, precuneus, right temporo-parietal junction and superior temporal pole was associated to ToM impairments. Our results provide the first comparison of neuropsychological, social cognition and neuroanatomicalprofiles of bvFTD and elderly BD patients. These findings shed light on differential diagnosis of these disorders and may have important clinical implications.