NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS AS DISCRIMINATORS BETWEEN DEMENTIA OF ALZHEIMER-TYPE AND FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA

The aim of this study was to examine whether cognitive test performanc e alone could distinguish patients with dementia of Alzheimer type (DA T) from those with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Scores from three ne uropsychological tests were used as discriminating variables in 28 cas es with postmortem verified diagnoses. The selected tests measured ver bal ability, visuospatial ability and verbal memory. Eighty-nine per c ent of the sample was correctly classified by discriminant analysis. E valuating the ability of the obtained discriminant function to differe ntiate between groups of DAT and FTD in a new, clinically diagnosed sa mple of 38 cases yielded an overall success rate of 84%. The results s uggest that cognitive tests may be helpful for differential diagnosis in the context of a neuropsychiatric examination.