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Distinctive neuropsychological patterns in frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and Alzheimer disease
Kramer JH, Jurik J, Sha SJ, Rankin KP, Rosen HJ, Johnson JK, Miller BL.. Cognitive and behavioral neurology : official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology, 2003-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To assess the ability of a brief neuropsychological bedside screening battery to discriminate between Alzheimer disease, frontotemporal dementia, and semantic dementia. Methods Subjects were 21 patients with frontotemporal dementia, 14 patients with semantic dementia, and 30 patients with Alzheimer disease comparable in terms of Mini Mental Status Examination score, age, and education. Frontotemporal dementia and semantic dementia diagnoses were made clinically using the consensus criteria of Neary et al. 1 Subjects were administered a brief neuropsychological screening assessing episodic memory, working memory, executive function, naming, spatial ability, abstract reasoning, and calculations. Results Both the Alzheimer disease and semantic dementia groups were significantly impaired relative to the frontotemporal dementia group on verbal memory, whereas only the Alzheimer disease group was impaired on visual memory. Frontotemporal dementia patients performed significantly worse on backward digit span and made significantly more executive errors than Alzheimer disease and semantic dementia patients. Semantic dementia patients were more impaired than Alzheimer disease and frontotemporal dementia patients on confrontation naming. Discriminant function analyses identified the 5 most discriminating variables that correctly classified 89.2% of cases. Conclusions Frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and Alzheimer disease are associated with distinct neuropsychological profiles that classify these dementia syndromes with considerable success. The neuropsychological profiles highlight the distinctiveness between the 3 syndromes, are consistent with the known loci of neuropathology in these conditions, and can potentially serve as an adjunct to the current clinical criteria.
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APA 7th
Kramer, J. H., Jurik, J., Sha, S. J., Rankin, K. P., Rosen, H. J., Johnson, J. K., et al. (2003). Distinctive neuropsychological patterns in frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and Alzheimer disease. Cognitive and behavioral neurology : official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1097/00146965-200312000-00002
Vancouver
Kramer JH, Jurik J, Sha SJ, Rankin KP, Rosen HJ, Johnson JK, et al. Distinctive neuropsychological patterns in frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and Alzheimer disease. Cognitive and behavioral neurology : official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology. 2003. doi:10.1097/00146965-200312000-00002. PMID: 14665820.
BibTeX
@article{kramer2003-14665820,
author = {Kramer, J. H. and Jurik, J. and Sha, S. J. and Rankin, K. P. and Rosen, H. J. and Johnson, J. K. and Miller, B. L.},
title = {{Distinctive neuropsychological patterns in frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and Alzheimer disease}},
journal = {Cognitive and behavioral neurology : official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1097/00146965-200312000-00002},
pmid = {14665820},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/00146965-200312000-00002}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results Both the Alzheimer disease and semantic dementia groups were significantly impaired relative to the frontotemporal dementia group on verbal memory, whereas only the Alzheimer disease group was impaired on visual memory.
- Frontotemporal dementia patients performed significantly worse on backward digit span and made significantly more executive errors than Alzheimer disease and semantic dementia patients.
- Conclusions Frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and Alzheimer disease are associated with distinct neuropsychological profiles that classify these dementia syndromes with considerable success.
Why it matters
A brief neuropsychological test battery distinguished Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and semantic dementia with 89.2% accuracy in this small sample. This supports using cognitive testing to help tell these dementias apart, though it does not offer a treatment or cure.
Study details
- Participants21
- Effect size89.2%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 53/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Cognitive and behavioral neurology : official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology: journal h-index 66 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2003 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 21 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 507 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 20.3 citations a year over 25 year(s) since 2003 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 32 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 47 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Bruce L. Miller: h-index 198 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, San Francisco: institution h-index 1,915 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 14665820) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 53 / 100 | — |
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