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Cited by 210Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchMemory Processes and InfluencesAlzheimer's disease research and treatments

Episodic memory in frontotemporal dementia: a critical review

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Hornberger, M., Piguet, O.·2012·Brain
DOI 10.1093/brain/aws011
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Abstract

This review offers a critical appraisal of the literature on episodic memory performance in frontotemporal dementia. Historically, description of patients diagnosed with what was then known as Pick's disease included the presence of memory deficits and an underlying amnestic syndrome was noted in some of these patients. Over the last 20 years, however, the clinical view has been that episodic memory processing is relatively intact in the frontotemporal dementia syndrome. In particular, patients with the subtypes of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia and progressive non-fluent aphasia are reported to perform within normal limits on standard memory tests. In the third clinical presentation of frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, relatively intact episodic memory against a significantly impaired semantic memory was regarded as the hallmark. This position was instrumental in the development of clinical diagnostic criteria for frontotemporal dementia in which amnesia was explicitly listed as an exclusion criterion for the disease. The relative intactness of episodic memory, therefore, appeared to be a useful diagnostic marker to distinguish early frontotemporal dementia from Alzheimer's disease, in which early episodic memory disturbance remains the most common clinical feature. We argue that recent evidence questions the validity of preserved episodic memory in frontotemporal dementia, particularly in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. In semantic dementia, a complex picture emerges with preservation of some components of episodic memory, notably recognition-based visual memory and recall of recent autobiographical events. We propose a critical synthesis of recent neuropsychological evidence on retrograde and anterograde memory in light of neuroimaging and neuropathological findings, demonstrating involvement of medial temporal structures in frontotemporal dementia, structures known to be critical for episodic memory processing. We further argue that the multifactorial nature of most memory tests commonly used clinically fail to capture the memory deficits in frontotemporal dementia and that sensitive assessment tools of memory are needed. Together, recent clinical and experimental findings and the historical evidence represent a strong case for a re-evaluation of the importance of memory disturbance in the clinical diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia.

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  • 10% of pathologically-confirmed bvFTD subjects show marked episodic memory deficits at initial presentation.

    “Furthermore, 10% of pathologically-confirmed bvFTD subjects show marked episodic memory deficits at initial presentation, contrary to current diagnostic criteria (Hodges et al. , 2004; Hornberger and Piguet, 2012; Bertoux et al. , 2018).”

    From Recommendations to distinguish behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia from psychiatric disorders (2020) · cites this paper as Hornberger and Piguet, 2012

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Delay J, Brion S, Escourolle R. L'opposition anatomo-clinique des mala- dies de Pick et d'Alzheimer: Etude de 38 cas [Anatomo-clinical con- trasts between Pick's and Alzheimer's diseases: 38 single-case studies]. La Presse Me ´dicale 1957a; 65: 1495-7.
  2. Delay J, Brion S, Escourolle R. L'opposition anatomo-clinique des mala- dies de Pick et d'Alzheimer: Valeur diagnostique des examens com- ple ´mentaires [Anatomo-clinical contrasts between Pick's and Alzheimer's diseases: Diagnostic use of complementary investigations]. La Presse Me ´dicale 1957b; 65: 1515-8.
  3. Lu ¨ers T, Spatz H. Picksche Krankheit (progressive umschriebene Grosshirnatrophie) [Pick's disease (progressive circumscribed brain atrophy)]. In: Scholz W, editor. Nervensystem. Berlin: Springer; 1957. p. 614-715.
  4. Pick A. Zur Symptomatologie der linksseitigen Schla ¨fenappenatrophie. Monatschrift fu ¨r Psychiatrie und Neurologie 1904; 16: 377-88.
  5. Schneider C. Weiter Beitra ¨ge zur Lehre von der Pickschen Krankheit [Further contributions to the knowledge of the Pick disease]. Zeitschrift fu ¨r die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie 1929; 120: 340-84.

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Authors
Hornberger, M., & Piguet, O.
Affiliations
UNSW Sydney (AU)
ORCID
Venue
Brain
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2012-02-24
Volume
135
Issue
3
Pages
678-692
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
DOI
10.1093/brain/aws011
OpenAlex
W2135433550
Cited by
210
References
142
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 3
FWCI
2.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UNSWorks (UNSW Sydney) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
  • UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Australian Research Council
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
Keywords
frontotemporal dementia, episodic memory, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, progressive nonfluent aphasia, Pick's disease, amnestic syndrome, retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia, medial temporal lobe, memory assessment, differential diagnosis from Alzheimer's disease, autobiographical memory, recognition memory
MeSH terms
Amnesia, Retrograde, Behavior, Brain, Humans, Neurology, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychomotor Performance, Amnesia, Anterograde, Pick Disease of the Brain, History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century, Primary Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia, Frontotemporal Dementia, Memory, Episodic

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