What are the Frontotemporal dementias?
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), also sometimes called frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), is a family of neurodegenerative disorders that primarily affect the frontal and anterior temporal regions of the brain. These areas control personality and social behavior, speech and language comprehension, and “executive functions” involved in reasoning, decision-making and planning. FTD is not like Alzheimer’s disease though some of the symptoms may overlap. FTD is characterized by a gradual onset of progressive changes in personality, social behavior, and language ability, rather than memory. Because of its symptoms, FTD is often initially misdiagnosed as a psychiatric problem or Alzheimer’s disease, or in the case of corticobasal syndrome, it can be mistaken as Parkinson’s disease. This is a very brief description. A more complete overview is provided in the What is FTD section of this site, which also provides detailed descriptions of each of the separate FTD disorders. If you or your
