Oculomotor function in frontotemporal lobar degeneration, related disorders and Alzheimer's disease.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) often overlaps clinically with corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), both of which have prominent eye movement abnormalities. To investigate the ability of oculomotor performance to differentiate between FTLD, Alzheimer's disease, CBS and PSP, saccades and smooth pursuit were measured in three FTLD subtypes, including 24 individuals with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), 19 with semantic dementia (SD) and six with progressive non-fluent aphasia (PA), as compared to 28 individuals with Alzheimer's disease, 15 with CBS, 10 with PSP and 27 control subjects. Different combinations of oculomotor abnormalities were identified in all clinical syndromes except for SD, which had oculomotor performance that was indistinguishable from age-matched controls. Only PSP patients displayed abnormalities in saccade velocity, whereas abnormalities in saccade gain were observed in PSP > CBS > Alzheimer's disease subjects. All patient groups except those with SD were impaired on the anti-saccade task, however only the FTLD subjects and not Alzheimer's disease, CBS or PSP groups, were able to spontaneously self-correct anti-saccade errors as well as controls. Receiver operating characteristic statistics demonstrated that oculomotor findings were superior to neuropsychological tests in differentiating PSP from other disorders, and comparable to neuropsychological tests in differentiating the other patient groups. These data suggest that oculomotor assessment may aid in the diagnosis of FTLD and related disorders.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Garbutt, S; Matlin, A; Hellmuth, J; Schenk, AK; Johnson, JK; Rosen, H; Dean, D; Kramer, J; Neuhaus, J; Miller, BL; Lisberger, SG; Boxer, AL

Published Date

  • May 2008

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 131 / Pt 5

Start / End Page

  • 1268 - 1281

PubMed ID

  • 18362099

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC2367697

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1460-2156

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1093/brain/awn047

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • England