Journal Article DZNE-2026-00117

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Patterns and Trajectories of Behavioral and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Frontotemporal Dementia and Primary Progressive Aphasia.

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2026
Wolters Kluwer Philadelphia, Pa.

Neurology 106(4), e214510 () [10.1212/WNL.0000000000214510]

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Abstract: Behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and primary progressive aphasia (PPA). However, little is known about their patterns, time course, and association with brain atrophy. We, therefore, aimed to describe behavioral and neuropsychiatric phenotypes in patients with FTD and PPA, leveraging a hypothesis-free/data-driven approach.We included participants diagnosed with behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) or PPA according to Rascovsky and Gorno-Tempini criteria from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases Clinical Registry Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases-FTD prospective multicenter observational cohort study. Symptoms were assessed using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to delineate symptom groups. Subsequently, frequency and severity across diagnostic groups were examined. We applied linear mixed-effects models to describe the longitudinal evolution of symptoms. Associations with MRI-assessed atrophy were investigated using linear regression models.A total of 314 patients (42.4% female, mean age 65.52 [SD 9.0] years) with bvFTD or PPA were included. MRI was available for 134 of 314 individuals. PCA revealed 4 natural symptom groups, labeled active behavioral, passive behavioral, affective, and psychotic phenotypes. Symptom groups were observed at comparable frequencies across diagnostic groups. Time from symptom onset (0.130 [0.044-0.217], p < 0.003), sex (1.376 [0.666-2.087], p < 0.001), and the interaction between the nonfluent variant of PPA and sex (-1.940 [-3.242 to -0.638], p = 0.004) showed a significant effect on the active behavioral phenotype, with symptom severity increasing over time and being most pronounced in men with bvFTD. Patients with bvFTD exhibited more severe passive behavioral symptoms compared with any other diagnostic group. For the affective phenotype, a significant interaction between time and sex (0.063 [0.010-0.117], p = 0.021) indicated a progressive increase in symptom severity in men over time. Furthermore, we found robust neuroanatomical correlations of passive behavioral symptoms with subcortical and bilateral frontal and cingulate cortical atrophy.Our findings demonstrate that behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms are prevalent in both bvFTD and PPA. Their severity depends on the disease duration, phenotypic group, and sex. This detailed understanding of symptomatology is crucial for optimizing patient care, diagnostic evaluations, and the design of clinical trials. Limitations comprise the lack of neuropathologic validation and the limited availability of MRI data.

Keyword(s): Humans (MeSH) ; Male (MeSH) ; Female (MeSH) ; Aphasia, Primary Progressive: psychology (MeSH) ; Aphasia, Primary Progressive: diagnostic imaging (MeSH) ; Aphasia, Primary Progressive: pathology (MeSH) ; Aphasia, Primary Progressive: complications (MeSH) ; Aphasia, Primary Progressive: physiopathology (MeSH) ; Frontotemporal Dementia: psychology (MeSH) ; Frontotemporal Dementia: diagnostic imaging (MeSH) ; Frontotemporal Dementia: pathology (MeSH) ; Frontotemporal Dementia: complications (MeSH) ; Frontotemporal Dementia: physiopathology (MeSH) ; Aged (MeSH) ; Middle Aged (MeSH) ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MeSH) ; Atrophy: pathology (MeSH) ; Neuropsychological Tests (MeSH) ; Prospective Studies (MeSH) ; Brain: pathology (MeSH) ; Brain: diagnostic imaging (MeSH) ; Disease Progression (MeSH) ; Cohort Studies (MeSH)

Classification:

Contributing Institute(s):
  1. Clinical Research (Munich) (Clinical Research (Munich))
  2. Clinical Neurodegeneration (AG Levin)
  3. Molecular Neurobiology (AG Simons)
  4. Biomarker-Assisted Early Detection of Dementias (AG Peters)
  5. Interdisciplinary Dementia Research (AG Endres)
  6. Translational Neuropsychiatry (AG Priller)
  7. Clinical Research Platform (CRP) (AG Spottke)
  8. Clinical Research Platform (CRP) (Clinical Research Platform (CRP))
  9. Translational Dementia Research (Bonn) (AG Schneider)
  10. Patient Studies (Bonn) (Patient Studies (Bonn))
  11. Translational Parkinson Research (AG Falkenburger)
  12. Molecular biomarkers for predictive diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases (AG Wiltfang)
  13. Epigenetics and Systems Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases (AG Fischer)
  14. Clinical Dementia Research (Göttingen) (Clinical Dementia Research (Göttingen))
  15. Translational Studies and Biomarker (AG Zerr)
  16. Clinical Neurophysiology and Memory (AG Düzel)
  17. Clinical Dementia Research (Rostock /Greifswald) (AG Teipel)
  18. Translational Neurodegeneration (AG Hermann)
  19. Parkinson Genetics (AG Gasser)
  20. Vascular Neurology (AG Petzold)
Research Program(s):
  1. 353 - Clinical and Health Care Research (POF4-353) (POF4-353)
  2. 351 - Brain Function (POF4-351) (POF4-351)
  3. 352 - Disease Mechanisms (POF4-352) (POF4-352)

Database coverage:
Medline ; Allianz-Lizenz ; BIOSIS Previews ; Biological Abstracts ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Clinical Medicine ; Current Contents - Life Sciences ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 5 ; JCR ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection
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The record appears in these collections:
Institute Collections > GÖ DZNE > GÖ DZNE-Clinical Dementia Research (Göttingen)
Institute Collections > BN DZNE > BN DZNE-Clinical Research Platform (CRP)
Institute Collections > M DZNE > M DZNE-Clinical Research (Munich)
Institute Collections > BN DZNE > BN DZNE-Patient Studies (Bonn)
Institute Collections > DD DZNE > DD DZNE-AG Falkenburger
Document types > Articles > Journal Article
Institute Collections > GÖ DZNE > GÖ DZNE-AG Wiltfang
Institute Collections > BN DZNE > BN DZNE-AG Schneider
Institute Collections > GÖ DZNE > GÖ DZNE-AG Fischer
Institute Collections > ROS DZNE > ROS DZNE-AG Hermann
Institute Collections > ROS DZNE > ROS DZNE-AG Teipel
Institute Collections > GÖ DZNE > GÖ DZNE-AG Zerr
Institute Collections > TÜ DZNE > TÜ DZNE-AG Gasser
Institute Collections > BN DZNE > BN DZNE-AG Spottke
Institute Collections > BN DZNE > BN DZNE-AG Petzold
Institute Collections > MD DZNE > MD DZNE-AG Düzel
Institute Collections > B DZNE > B DZNE-AG Priller
Institute Collections > M DZNE > M DZNE-AG Simons
Institute Collections > B DZNE > B DZNE-AG Peters
Institute Collections > B DZNE > B DZNE-AG Endres
Institute Collections > M DZNE > M DZNE-AG Levin
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 Record created 2026-01-29, last modified 2026-01-29


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