Relationship of frontal lobe dysfunction and aberrant motor behaviors in patients with Alzheimer's disease

• Published in: International psychogeriatrics 2010-05, Vol.22 (3), p.463-469
• Main Authors: Nagata, Tomoyuki, Shinagawa, Shunichiro, Ochiai, Yusuke, Kada, Hirohide, Kasahara, Hiroo, Nukariya, Kazutaka, Nakayama, Kazuhiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Alzheimer's disease; Behavior disorders; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Cognition & reasoning; Cross-Sectional Studies; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Executive Function; Female; Frontal Lobe - physiopathology; Geriatric psychology; Geriatrics; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Motor Activity; Neurology; Neuropsychology; Older people; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Outpatients - psychology; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Regression Analysis; Wandering Behavior - psychology
• ISSN: 1041-6102; 1741-203X
• DOI: 10.1017/S1041610209991323

Background: In order to address the neuropsychological pathogenesis of aberrant motor behaviors in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we used a cross-sectional study design to investigate the association between frontal lobe function, including executive function, and activity disturbances (wandering, purposeless activities and inappropriate activities). Methods: Among 75 consecutive outpatients with AD, 50 subjects with a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score of 1 or 2 were selected and divided into two groups based on data obtained from interviews with their caregivers: an aberrant motor behaviors (AMB) group (n = 22), and a non-aberrant motor behaviors (NAMB) group (n = 28). Aberrant motor behavior was defined according to whether the “activity disturbance” score (ranging from 0 to 9) of the Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer Disease (Behave-AD) scale was 0 or ≥1. The total and subtest scores of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) were then compared between the two groups. Results: Significant differences were found between the FAB total (P < 0.05) and the subtest scores (lexical fluency, conflicting instructions; P < 0.05) in the two groups. The FAB score was significantly associated with the activity disturbance score (r = −0.49; P