No abstract

A personality and behavioral disorder is an important and defining feature of frontal lobe dementia (FLD) or frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). The diagnosis usually depends on the progressive development of various behavioral symptoms rather than a set of neuropsychological measures. Quantification of the personality–behavior disorder is important for standardizing the diagnosis. An inventory was constructed to capture the major positive and negative behaviors and personality change, and it was administered prospectively to caregivers of 108 patients in a cognitive neurology clinic, at the time of first diagnostic assessment. The prevalence and extent of behavioral abnormality was quantitated in the clinic population of FLD, vascular dementia (VaD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and depressive disorder (DD) patients. The mean scores of FLD patients were significantly above all other groups. Scores in VaD were also higher than in AD, PPA, and DD. Interrater reliability (Cohen's kappa of .90) and item consistency (a Cronbach alpha of .89) were both high. Perseveration, indifference, inattention, inappropriateness, and loss of insight rated highest in FLD, significantly different from all other groups. Apathy, aspontaneity, inflexibility, disorganization, impulsivity, personal neglect, and poor judgment were also significantly higher in FLD. Discriminant function correctly classified 92.7% versus all other patients (NON-FLD) in the study. A total of 18.8% of VaD patients were misclassified as FLD. Indifference, alien hand, and inappropriateness were the highest discriminant functions. Perseveration and verbal apraxia were important discriminatory items for FLD and PPA, respectively. The FBI is a standardized behavioral inventory useful to diagnose FLD, to differentiate it from other dementias, and to quantify the behavior disorder. (JINS, 2000, 6, 460–468.)

An increasing number of reports have demonstrated a significant effect of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF MFs) on aspects of animal and human behavior. Recent studies suggest that exposure to ELF MFs affects human brain electrical activity as measured by electroencephalography (EEG), specifically within the alpha frequency (8-13 Hz). Here we report that exposure to a pulsed ELF MF with most power at frequencies between 0 and 500 Hz, known to affect aspects of analgesia and standing balance, also affects the human EEG. Twenty subjects (10 males; 10 females) received both a magnetic field (MF) and a sham session in a counterbalanced design for 15 min. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that alpha activity was significantly higher over the occipital electrodes (O1, Oz, O2) [F(1,16) = 6.858; P =.019, eta2 = 0.30] and marginally higher over the parietal electrodes (P3, Pz, P4) [F(1,16) = 4.251; P =.056, eta2 = 0.21] post MF exposure. This enhancement of alpha activity was transient, as it marginally decreased over occipital [F(1,16) = 4.417; P =.052; eta2 = 0.216] and parietal electrodes [F(1,16) = 4.244; P =.056; eta2 = 0.21] approximately 7 min after MF exposure compared to the sham exposure. Significantly higher occipital alpha activity is consistent with other experiments examining EEG responses to ELF MFs and ELF modulated radiofrequency fields associated with mobile phones. Hence, we suggest that this result may be a nonspecific physiological response to the pulsed MFs.