# 13 - 443 Frontotemporal Dementia

### 443 Frontotemporal Dementia

one study), migraine, or cardiac arrhythmias have all been implicated. 
Approximately one-quarter of patients experience recurrent attacks. 
Rare instances of permanent memory loss have been reported in 
patients with TGA-like spells, usually representing ischemic infarction 
of the hippocampus or dorsomedial thalamic nucleus bilaterally. Sei­
zure activity due to AD should always be suspected in this syndrome.
The ALS/parkinsonian/dementia complex of Guam is a rare degen­
erative disease that has occurred in the Chamorro natives on the island 
of Guam. Individuals may have any combination of parkinsonian fea­
tures, dementia, and MND. The most characteristic pathologic features 
are the presence of NFTs in degenerating neurons of the cortex and 
substantia nigra and loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, although 
recent reanalysis has shown that some patients with this illness also 
show coexisting TDP-43 pathology. Epidemiologic evidence supports 
a possible environmental cause, such as exposure to a neurotoxin or 
an infectious agent with a long latency period. One interesting but 
unproven candidate neurotoxin is the seed of the false palm tree, which 
Guamanians traditionally used to make flour. The amyotrophic lateral 
sclerosis (ALS) syndrome is no longer present in Guam, but a dement­
ing illness with rigidity continues to be seen.
Rarely, adult-onset leukodystrophies, lysosomal storage diseases, 
and other genetic disorders can present as a dementia in middle to 
late life. Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) causes a progres­
sive psychiatric or dementia syndrome associated with an extensive, 
confluent frontal white matter abnormality. MLD is diagnosed by 
measuring reduced arylsulfatase A enzyme activity in peripheral 
white blood cells. Adult-onset presentations of adrenoleukodystrophy 
have been reported in female carriers, and these patients often feature 
spinal cord and posterior white matter involvement. Adrenoleuko­
dystrophy is diagnosed by demonstrating increased levels of plasma 
very-long-chain fatty acids. CADASIL (cerebral autosomal dominant 
arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy) is 
another genetic syndrome associated with white matter disease, often 
frontally and temporally predominant. Diagnosis is made with skin 
biopsy, which shows osmophilic granules in arterioles, or increasingly 
through genetic testing for mutations in Notch 3. The neuronal ceroid 
lipofuscinoses are a genetically heterogeneous group of disorders asso­
ciated with myoclonus, seizures, vision loss, and progressive dementia. 
Diagnosis is made by finding eosinophilic curvilinear inclusions within 
white blood cells or neuronal tissue.
Psychogenic amnesia for personally important memories can be 
seen. Whether this results from deliberate avoidance of unpleasant 
memories, outright malingering, or unconscious repression remains 
unknown and probably depends on the patient. Event-specific amnesia 
is more likely to occur after violent crimes such as homicide of a close 
relative or friend or sexual abuse. It may develop in association with 
severe drug or alcohol intoxication and sometimes with schizophrenia. 
More prolonged psychogenic amnesia occurs in fugue states that also 
commonly follow severe emotional stress. The patient with a fugue 
state suffers from a sudden loss of personal identity and may be found 
wandering far from home. In contrast to neurologic amnesia, fugue 
states are associated with amnesia for personal identity and events closely 
associated with the personal past. At the same time, memory for other 
recent events and the ability to learn and use new information are pre­
served. The episodes usually last hours or days and occasionally weeks 
or months while the patient takes on a new identity. On recovery, there 
is a residual amnesia gap for the period of the fugue. Very rarely does 
selective loss of autobiographic information reflect a focal injury to the 
brain areas involved with these functions.
Psychiatric diseases may mimic dementia. Severely depressed or 
anxious individuals may appear demented, a phenomenon sometimes 
called pseudodementia. Memory and language are usually intact when 
carefully tested, and a significant memory disturbance usually suggests 
an underlying dementia, even if the patient is depressed. Patients in this 
condition may feel confused and unable to accomplish routine tasks. 
Vegetative symptoms, such as insomnia, lack of energy, poor appetite, 
and concern with bowel function, are common. Onset is often more 
abrupt, and the psychosocial milieu may suggest prominent reasons 
for depression. Such patients respond to treatment of the underlying 

psychiatric illness. Schizophrenia is usually not difficult to distinguish 
from dementia, but occasionally the distinction can be problematic. 
Schizophrenia generally has a much earlier age of onset (second and 
third decades) than most dementing illnesses and is associated with 
intact memory. The delusions and hallucinations of schizophrenia are 
usually more complex, bizarre, and threatening than those of demen­
tia. Some chronic schizophrenics develop an unexplained progressive 
dementia late in life that is not related to AD. Conversely, FTD, HD, 
vascular dementia, DLB, AD, or leukoencephalopathy can begin with 
schizophrenia-like features, leading to the misdiagnosis of a psychiatric 
condition. Later age of onset, significant deficits on cognitive testing, or 
the presence of abnormal neuroimaging suggest a degenerative condi­
tion. Memory loss may also be part of a conversion disorder. In this situ­
ation, patients commonly complain bitterly of memory loss, but careful 
cognitive testing either does not confirm the deficits or demonstrates 
inconsistent or unusual patterns of cognitive problems. The patient’s 
behavior and “wrong” answers to questions often indicate that they 
understand the question and know the correct answer.

CHAPTER 443
Clouding of cognition by chronic drug or medication use, often pre­
scribed by physicians, is an important cause of dementia. Sedatives, 
tranquilizers, and analgesics used to treat insomnia, pain, anxiety, or 
agitation may cause confusion, memory loss, and lethargy, especially 
in the elderly. Discontinuation of the offending medication often 
improves mentation.
Frontotemporal Dementia 
■
■FURTHER READING
Andrews SJ et al: Interpretation of risk loci from genome-wide asso­
ciation studies of Alzheimer’s disease. Lancet Neurol 19:326, 2020.
Belloy ME et al: A quarter century of APOE and Alzheimer’s disease: 
Progress to date and the path forward. Neuron 101:820, 2019.
Cummings J et al: Progress in pharmacologic management of neu­
ropsychiatric syndromes in neurodegenerative disorders: A review. 
JAMA Neurol 81:645, 2024.
Graff-Radford J et al: New insights into atypical Alzheimer’s disease 
in the era of biomarkers. Lancet Neurol 20:222, 2021.
Jack CR et al: Revised criteria for the diagnosis and staging of 
Alzheimer’s disease. Nat Med 30:2121, 2024.
Schindler SE et al: Acceptable performance of blood biomarker tests 
of amyloid pathology: Recommendations from the Global CEO Ini­
tiative on Alzheimer’s Disease. Nat Rev Neurol 20:426, 2024.
Sims JR et al: Donanemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer disease: 
The TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 randomized clinical trial. JAMA 330:512, 
2023.
Van Dyck CH et al: Lecanemab in early Alzheimer’s disease. N Engl J 
Med 388:9, 2023.
William W. Seeley, Bruce L. Miller

Frontotemporal 

Dementia
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) refers to a group of clinical syndromes 
united by their links to underlying frontotemporal lobar degenera­
tion (FTLD) pathology. FTD, like the other major neurodegenerative 
diseases, is considered a disease of abnormal protein aggregation, with 
either tau or transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa 
(TDP-43) implicated in most cases. FTD most often begins in the fifth 
to seventh decades of life and is nearly as prevalent as Alzheimer’s 
disease (AD) in this age group. Early studies suggested that FTD may 
be more common in men than women; however, more recent reports

cast doubt on this finding. Although a family history of dementia is 
common, autosomal dominant inheritance is seen in only 10–20% of 
all FTD cases.

■
■CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS
Familial and sporadic forms of FTLD present with remarkable clinical 
heterogeneity. Three core clinical syndromes have been described (Fig. 
443-1). In the behavioral variant (bvFTD), the most common FTD syn­
drome, social and emotional dysfunction manifests as apathy, disinhibi­
tion, compulsivity, loss of empathy, and overeating, often but not always 
accompanied by deficits in executive control. Two forms of primary 
progressive aphasia (PPA), the semantic and nonfluent/agrammatic 
variants, are commonly due to FTLD and are included under the FTD 
umbrella. In the semantic variant, patients slowly lose the ability to 
decode word, object, person-specific, and emotion meaning, whereas 
patients with the nonfluent/agrammatic variant develop profound 
inability to produce words, often with prominent motor speech impair­
ment. Any of these three clinical syndromes, but most often bvFTD, 
may be accompanied by motor neuron disease (MND) (Chap. 448), in 
which case the term FTD-MND is applied. In addition, the corticobasal 
syndrome (CBS) and progressive supranuclear palsy–Richardson syn­
drome (PSP-RS) can be considered part of the FTD clinical spectrum. 
Furthermore, patients may evolve from any of the major syndromes 
described above to have prominent features of another syndrome.
PART 13
Neurologic Disorders
Findings at the bedside are dictated by the anatomic localization 
of the disorder. Degeneration with atrophy occurs in the medial and 
orbital frontal cortex and anterior insula in bvFTD; the anterior tem­
poral region in semantic variant PPA; and the opercular frontal and 
precentral gyrus of the dominant hemisphere in nonfluent/agrammatic 
PPA. Typically, parietal functions such as visuospatial processing and 
arithmetic calculations are unaffected even late in the FTD syndromes. 
Many patients with nonfluent aphasia or bvFTD later develop aspects 
of PSP-RS as disease spreads into subcortical or brainstem structures 
or CBS-like features appear as disease moves into perirolandic cortices.
■
■GENETIC CONSIDERATIONS
Autosomal dominant forms of FTD can result from mutations in 
C9orf72 (chromosome 9), GRN (chromosome 17), and MAPT 
(chromosome 17) genes. A hexanucleotide (GGGGCC) expan­
sion in a noncoding exon of C9ORF72 is the most common genetic 
cause of familial or sporadic FTD (usually presenting as bvFTD with or 
without MND) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The expansion 
is associated with C9orf72 haploinsufficiency, nuclear mRNA foci con­
taining transcribed portions of the expansion and other mRNAs, neu­
ronal cytoplasmic inclusions containing dipeptide repeat proteins 
translated from the repeat mRNA, and TDP-43 neuronal cytoplasmic 
and glial inclusions. The pathogenic significance of these various fea­
tures is a topic of vigorous investigation. MAPT mutations lead to a 
change in the alternate splicing of tau or cause loss of function in the 
FIGURE 443-1  Three major frontotemporal dementia (FTD) clinical syndromes. Coronal magnetic resonance imaging 
sections from representative patients with behavioral variant FTD (left) and the semantic (center) and nonfluent/
agrammatic (right) variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Areas of early and severe atrophy in each syndrome 
are highlighted (white arrowheads). The behavioral variant features anterior cingulate and frontoinsular atrophy, 
spreading to orbital and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Semantic variant PPA shows prominent temporopolar atrophy, 
more often on the left. Nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA is associated with dominant frontal opercular and dorsal 
insula degeneration.

tau molecule, thereby altering microtubule binding. With GRN, muta­
tions in the coding sequence of the gene encoding progranulin protein 
result in mRNA degradation due to nonsense-mediated decay, leading 
to a ~50% reduction in circulating progranulin protein levels. Intrigu­
ingly, homozygous GRN mutations cause neuronal ceroid lipofuscino­
sis, focusing investigators on the lysosome as a site of molecular 
dysfunction in GRN-related FTD. Progranulin is a growth factor that 
binds to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and sortilin receptors and partici­
pates in tissue repair and tumor growth. How progranulin mutations 
lead to FTD remains unknown, but the most likely mechanisms 
include lysosomal dysfunction and neuroinflammation. Often, MAPT 
and GRN mutations are associated with parkinsonian features, whereas 
ALS is rare. Infrequently, mutations in the valosin-containing protein 
(VCP, chromosome 9), TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK-1), T cell–
restricted intracellular antigen-1 (TIA1), and charged multivesicular 
body protein 2b (CHMP2b, chromosome 3) genes also lead to autoso­
mal dominant familial FTD. Mutations in the TARDBP (encoding 
TDP-43) and FUS (encoding fused in sarcoma [FUS]) genes (see 
below) cause familial ALS, sometimes in association with an FTD syn­
drome, although a few patients presenting with FTD alone have been 
reported.
■
■NEUROPATHOLOGY
The pathological hallmark of FTLD is a focal atrophy of frontal, insular, 
and/or temporal cortex, which can be visualized with neuroimaging 
studies (Fig. 443-1) and is often profound at autopsy. Neuroimaging 
studies suggest that atrophy often begins focally in one hemisphere 
before spreading to anatomically interconnected cortical and subcorti­
cal regions. Loss of cortical serotonergic innervation is seen in many 
patients. In contrast to AD, the cholinergic system is relatively spared 
in FTD, which accounts for the poor efficacy of acetylcholinesterase 
inhibitors in this group.
Although early studies suggested that 15–30% of patients with 
FTD showed underlying AD at autopsy, progressive refinement in 
clinical diagnosis has improved prediction accuracy, and most patients 
diagnosed with FTD at a dementia clinic will show underlying FTLD 
pathology. Microscopic findings seen across all patients with FTLD 
include gliosis, microvacuolation, and neuronal loss, but the disease is 
subtyped according to the protein composition of neuronal and glial 
inclusions, which contain either tau or TDP-43 in ~90% of patients, 
with the remaining ~10% showing inclusions containing the FET fam­
ily of proteins (FUS, Ewing sarcoma protein, TAF-15) (Fig. 443-2).
■
■PATHOGENESIS
In FTLD-tau, the toxicity and spreading capacity of misfolded tau are 
critical for the pathogenesis of inherited and sporadic tauopathies, 
although loss of tau microtubule stabilizing function may also play 
a role. In recent years, the distinctive structures of the misfolded 
tau in each FTLD tauopathy have been resolved using cryo-electron 
microscopy, opening up new approaches 
to diagnosis and treatment. TDP-43 
and FET family proteins in contrast, 
are RNA/DNA binding proteins whose 
roles in neuronal function are still being 
actively investigated. TDP-43 is a master 
regulator of gene expression, and loss of 
TDP-43 function results in mis-splicing 
events leading to mRNA degradation 
(via nonsense-mediated decay) or aber­
rant transcripts that give rise to stable 
but dysfunctional peptides. One key 
role of TDP-43 and FET family proteins 
may be the chaperoning of mRNAs to 
the distal neuron for activity-dependent 
translation within dendritic spines. 
Because these proteins also form intra­
cellular aggregates and produce similar 
anatomic progression, protein toxicity 
and spreading may also factor heavily

bvFTD
svPPA
nfvPPA
FTD-MND
CBS
PSP-RS
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD)
FTLD-tau
FTLD-TDP
FTLD-FET
FTLD-3
CHMP2B
Pick’s
3R tau
CBD
4R tau
PSP
4R tau
aFTLD-U
BIBD
Type A
(PGRN)
(C9ORF72)
FTDP-17
MAPT
Other: CTE,
AGD, MST, GGT
Type D
VCP
FIGURE 443-2  Frontotemporal dementia syndromes are united by underlying frontotemporal lobar degeneration pathology, which can be divided according to the 
presence of tau, TDP-43, or FUS-containing inclusions in neurons and glia. Correlations between clinical syndromes and major molecular classes are shown with colored 
shading. Despite improvements in clinical syndromic diagnosis, a small percentage of patients with some frontotemporal dementia syndromes will show Alzheimer’s 
disease neuropathology at autopsy (gray shading). aFTLD-U, atypical frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-positive inclusions; AGD, argyrophilic grain 
disease; BIBD, basophilic inclusion body disease; bvFTD, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia; CBD, corticobasal degeneration; CBS, corticobasal syndrome; CTE, 
chronic traumatic encephalopathy; FET, FUS, Ewing sarcoma protein, TAF-15 family of proteins; FTD-MND, frontotemporal dementia with motor neuron disease; FTDP-17, 
frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17; FUS, fused in sarcoma; GGT, globular glial tauopathy; MST, multisystem tauopathy; nfvPPA, nonfluent/
agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia; NIBD, neurofilament inclusion body disease; NIFID, neuronal intermediate filament inclusion disease; PSP, progressive 
supranuclear palsy; PSP-RS, progressive supranuclear palsy–Richardson syndrome; svPPA, semantic variant primary progressive aphasia; Type U, unclassifiable type.
in the pathogenesis of FTLD-TDP and FTLD-FET. As with tau, the 
ultrastructural characteristics of the TDP-43 and FET family protein 
misfolding events are now being actively characterized, with each 
pathologically recognized morphological subtype corresponding to a 
disease-specific fold.
Increasingly, misfolded proteins in neurodegenerative disease are 
recognized as having “prion-like” or “corruptive” properties in that 
they can template the misfolding of their natively folded (or unfolded) 
protein counterparts, a process that creates exponential amplification of 
protein misfolding within a cell and may promote transcellular and even 
transsynaptic protein propagation between cells. This hypothesis could 
provide a unifying explanation for the stereotypical and network-rooted 
patterns of disease spread observed in each syndrome (Chap. 435).
Although the term Pick’s disease was once used to describe a pro­
gressive degenerative disorder characterized by selective involvement 
of the anterior frontal and temporal neocortex and pathologically 
by intraneuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (Pick bodies), it is now used 
only in reference to a specific FTLD-tau histopathologic subtype. 
Classical Pick bodies are argyrophilic, staining positively with the 
Bielschowsky silver method (but not with the Gallyas method) and 
also with immunostaining for hyperphosphorylated tau. Recognition 
of the three FTLD major molecular classes has allowed delineation of 
distinct FTLD subtypes within each class. These subtypes, based on 
the morphology and distribution of the neuronal and glial inclusions 
(Fig. 443-3), account for the vast majority of patients, and some sub­
types show strong clinical or genetic associations (Fig. 443-2). Despite 
this progress, clinical features do not allow reliable prediction of the 
underlying FTLD subtype, or even the major molecular class, for all 
clinical syndromes. Molecular positron emission tomography (PET) 
imaging with ligands chosen to bind misfolded tau protein shows 
promise, but to date, these ligands only show robust and specific bind­
ing to AD-related misfolded tau. Because FTLD-tau and FTLD-TDP 
account for 90% of FTLD patients, the ability to detect pathologic tau 
(or TDP-43) protein deposition in vivo would greatly improve predic­
tion accuracy, especially when amyloid PET imaging is negative.
■
■TREATMENT
Caregivers for patients with FTD carry a heavy burden, especially when 
the illness disrupts core emotional and personality functions of the 
loved one. Treatment is symptomatic, and there are currently no thera­
pies known to slow progression or improve symptoms. Many of the 

Alzheimer’s
disease
Type B
(C9ORF72)
Type C
CHAPTER 443
NIFID/
NIBD
FUS NOS
FUS
Type U
(C9ORF72)
(TARDBP)
Frontotemporal Dementia 
behaviors that may accompany FTD, such as depression, hyperorality, 
compulsions, and irritability, can be ameliorated with antidepressants, 
especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Because 
FTD is often accompanied by parkinsonism, antipsychotics, which 
can exacerbate this problem, must be used with caution. Experimental 
therapeutics, most targeting genetic forms of FTD, have just begun to 
enter clinical trials, but to date, no disease-modifying treatments have 
shown efficacy. A general approach to the symptomatic management 
of dementia is presented in Chap. 31.
■
■PROGRESSIVE SUPRANUCLEAR PALSY 
SYNDROME
PSP-RS is a degenerative disorder that involves the brainstem, basal 
ganglia, diencephalon, and selected areas of cortex. Clinically, PSPRS begins with falls and executive dysfunction or subtle personality 
changes (such as mental rigidity, impulsivity, or apathy). Shortly 
thereafter, a progressive oculomotor syndrome ensues that begins 
with square wave jerks, followed by slowed saccades (vertical worse 
than horizontal) before resulting in progressive supranuclear oph­
thalmoparesis. Dysarthria, dysphagia, and symmetric axial rigidity 
can be prominent features that emerge at any point in the illness. A 
stiff, unstable posture with hyperextension of the neck and a slow, 
jerky, toppling gait are characteristic. Frequent unexplained and 
sometimes spectacular falls are common secondary to a combination 
of axial rigidity, inability to look down, and impaired judgment. Even 
once patients have severely limited voluntary eye movements, they 
retain oculocephalic reflexes (demonstrated using a vertical doll’s 
head maneuver); thus, the oculomotor disorder is supranuclear. The 
dementia overlaps with bvFTD, featuring apathy, frontal-executive 
dysfunction, poor judgment, slowed thought processes, impaired 
verbal fluency, and difficulty with sequential actions and shifting from 
one task to another. These features are common at presentation and 
often precede the motor syndrome. Some patients with a pathologic 
diagnosis of PSP begin with a nonfluent aphasia or motor speech dis­
order and progress to classical PSP-RS. Response to l-dopa is limited 
or absent; no other treatments exist. Death occurs within 5–10 years of 
onset. Like Pick’s disease, increasingly the term PSP is used to refer to a 
specific histopathologic entity within the FTLD-tau class. In PSP, accu­
mulation of hyperphosphorylated 4-repeat tau is seen within neurons 
and glia. Tau neuronal inclusions often appear tangle-like and may be 
large, spherical (“globose”), and coarse in subcortical and brainstem

A
B
C
PART 13
Neurologic Disorders
D
E
F
FIGURE 443-3  Neuropathology in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). FTLD-tau (A–C) and FTLD-TDP (D–F) account for >90% of patients with FTLD, and 
immunohistochemistry reveals characteristic lesions in each of the major histopathologic subtypes within each class: A. Pick bodies in Pick’s disease; B. a tufted astrocyte 
in progressive supranuclear palsy; C. an astrocytic plaque in corticobasal degeneration; D. small compact or crescentic neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions and short, thin 
neuropil threads in FTLD-TDP, type A; E. diffuse/granular neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (with a relative paucity of neuropil threads) in FTLD-TDP, type B; and F. long, 
tortuous dystrophic neurites in FTLD-TDP, type C. TDP can be seen within the nucleus in neurons lacking inclusions but mislocalizes to the cytoplasm and forms inclusions 
in FTLD-TDP. Immunostains are 3-repeat tau (A), phospho-tau (B and C), and TDP-43 (D–F). Sections are counterstained with hematoxylin. Scale bar applies to all panels and 
represents 50 μm in A, B, C, and E and 100 μm in D and F.
structures. The most prominent involvement is in the subthalamic 
nucleus, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, periaqueductal gray, tectum, 
oculomotor nuclei, pontine nuclei, and dentate nucleus of cerebellum. 
Neocortical tangle-like inclusions, like those in AD, often take on a 
more flame-shaped morphology, but the tau folds in AD and PSP are 
distinct. Prominent tau-positive glial inclusions are an essential feature 
of PSP. Tufted astrocytes in the neocortex or striatum are the signature 
lesion (Fig. 443-3). Coiled oligodendroglial inclusions (“coiled bodies”) 
are common but nonspecific. Most patients with PSP-RS show PSP at 
autopsy, although small numbers will show another tauopathy (corti­
cobasal degeneration [CBD] or globular glial tauopathy, or FTLD with 
a MAPT mutation; Fig. 443-2).
In addition to its overlap with FTD and CBS (see below), PSP is often 
confused with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). Although elderly 
patients with PD may have restricted upgaze, they do not develop 
downgaze paresis or other abnormalities of voluntary eye movements 
typical of PSP. Dementia ultimately occurs in most patients with PD, 
often due to the emergence of a full-blown dementia with Lewy bodies 
(DLB)-like syndrome or comorbid AD-type dementia. Furthermore, 
the behavioral syndromes seen with DLB differ from PSP (see below). 
Dementia in PD becomes more likely with increasing age, increasing 
severity of extrapyramidal signs, long disease duration, and the pres­
ence of depression. Patients with PD who develop dementia also show 
cortical atrophy on brain imaging. Neuropathologically, there may be 
AD-related changes in the cortex or Lewy body disease (LBD)-related 
α-synuclein inclusions in both the limbic system and cerebral cortex. 
DLB and PD are discussed in Chaps. 445 and 446, respectively.
■
■CORTICOBASAL SYNDROME
CBS is a slowly progressive dementia-movement disorder associated 
with severe degeneration in the perirolandic cortex and basal ganglia 
(substantia nigra and striatopallidum). Patients typically present with 
asymmetric rigidity, dystonia, myoclonus, and apraxia that render a 

progressively incapacitated limb, at times associated with alien limb 
phenomena in which the limb exhibits unintended motor actions such 
as grasping, groping, drifting, or undoing. Eventually CBS becomes 
bilateral and leads to dysarthria, slow gait, action tremor, and a frontalpredominant dementia. Whereas CBS refers to the clinical syndrome, 
CBD refers to a specific histopathologic FTLD-tau entity (Fig. 443-2). 
Although CBS was once thought to be pathognomonic for CBD, 
increasingly it has been recognized that CBS can be due to CBD, PSP, 
FTLD-TDP, and AD, with the latter accounting for up to 30% of CBS 
in some series. In CBD, the microscopic features include ballooned, 
achromatic, tau-positive neurons; astrocytic plaques (Fig. 443-3); and 
other dystrophic glial tau pathomorphologies that overlap with those 
seen in PSP. Most specifically, CBD features a severe tauopathy bur­
den in the subcortical white matter, consisting of axonal threads and 
oligodendroglial coiled bodies. As shown in Fig. 443-2, patients with 
bvFTD, nonfluent/agrammatic PPA, and PSP-RS may also show CBD 
at autopsy, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing clinical and 
pathologic constructs and terminology. Treatment of CBS remains 
symptomatic; no disease-modifying therapies are available.
■
■FURTHER READING
Boeve BF et al: Advances and controversies in frontotemporal dementia: 
Diagnosis, biomarkers, and therapeutic considerations. Lancet Neurol 
21:258, 2022.
Creekmore BC et al: Neurodegenerative disease tauopathies. Annu 
Rev Pathol 19:345, 2024.
Irwin DJ et al: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration: Defining pheno­
typic diversity through personalized medicine. Acta Neuropathol 
129:469, 2015.
Roberson ED: Mouse models of frontotemporal dementia. Ann Neurol 
72:837, 2012.
Seeley WW: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. Continuum 
(Minneap Minn) 25:76, 2019.