Emotional and behavioral symptoms in neurodegenerative disease: A model for studying the neural bases of psychopathology

摘要

Disruptions in emotional, cognitive, and social behavior are common in neurodegenerative disease and many forms of psychopathology. Because neurodegenerative diseases have much clearer patterns of brain atrophy, they may provide a window into the neural bases of these common symptoms. We discuss five common symptoms that occur in both neurodegenerative disease and psychopathology (i.e., anxiety, dysphoric mood, apathy, disinhibition, and euphoric mood) and their associated neural circuitry. We focus on two neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia) that are common and well-characterized in terms of emotion, cognition, and social behavior and in patterns of associated neuropathology. Neurodegenerative diseases provide a powerful model system for studying the neural correlates of psychopathological symptoms; this is supported by evidence indicating convergence with psychiatric syndromes (e.g., symptoms of disinhibition associated with dysfunction in orbitofrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus in both frontotemporal dementia and bipolar disorder). We conclude that neurodegenerative diseases can play an important role in future approaches to the assessment, prevention, and treatment of mental illness.