Psychometric characteristics in patients with frontal lobe degeneration of non-Alzheimer type.

Twenty patients, selected from a longitudinal study of patients with presenile and senile dementia, underwent psychometric assessment including semi-structured observations of behaviour in the test situation and examination for dysphasia. The patients were chosen on the basis of post-mortem investigation and showed frontal lobe degeneration (FLD) of non-Alzheimer type in 16 cases and Pick's disease in four cases. The patients are described with reference to cognition, language function, behaviour and emotional reactions in the test situation. The test results were analyzed and compared with psychometric results from other groups of demented patients, above all with Alzheimer's disease. The cognitive dysfunction was less severe in patients with onset of dementia below the age of 56 years as compared to patients with later onset, i.e., 56 years or older. Dysfunction of expressive speech was the most consistent finding in the patients with frontal lobe degeneration, while receptive speech functions were relatively less frequently affected.