This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.Apathy is the most common neuropsychitric symptom of both Alzheimer s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Differences in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will be used to compare differences in regional brain function and structure associated with apathy in patients with both diseases. AD and FTD patients will be identified from those followed in subspecialty behavioral neurology clinics at UCLA. The presence of apathy will be determined on the basis of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) in both patient groups. Additionally, the Frontal Behavioral Inventory (FBI) will be used to confirm the presence of the symptom in FTD subjects, to address the concern the NPI may be more sensitive to apathy in AD compared to FTD. Functional differences will be examined with Technetium Tc 99m-labeled hexylmethylpropylene amineoxime single photon emission computerized tomography (Tc 99m HMPAO SPECT) scans. AD and FTD subjects with apathy will be compared to matched AD and FTD patients without apathy. We hypothesize that distinct and similar structural and functional differences in brain regions will be associated with development of apathy in these two patients populations, specifically, bilateral hypofunctioning of the anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and subcortical structures including the thalamus and basal ganglia. Morphometric and functional studies will be compared separately using Analysis of Variance ( ANOVA). Subvolumetric threshold (SVT) will be employed to determine a mean and variance for regional cerebral blood flow in each of sixty regions of interest (ROI). A three way analysis of variance (disease by apathy by ROI) will then be used to examine differences in regional cerebral blood flow between experimental groups. A significant disease by apathy by region interaction effect would support the experimental hypothesis. Significance of individual group differences will then be examined post hoc using Fishers Least Significant Difference test. Similarly, a three way ANOVA will be used to examine volumetric difference in 60 ROIs in the patients MRI scans.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 554 publications
