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Racial/ethnic differences in neuropsychological test performance in frontotemporal degeneration
Melanie A Matyi, Emma Rhodes, Sheina Emrani, Hannah A Jin, David J Irwin, Corey T McMillan, Lauren Massimo. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2025-10-22
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Minoritized individuals had lower scores and/or greater likelihood of impairment on measures of lexical retrieval, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and working memory but not global cognition, verbal recall, attention, and category fluency. Addition of severity, age (M = 65.18), sex (40% female), education (M = 15.62), and vascular comorbidities attenuated group differences. Racial/ethnic differences on neuropsychological tests used in diagnosis and monitoring of FTD were substantially attenuated when accounting for potential contributing factors. To address these differences in FTD, future efforts must increase representative research participation of patients and understand social determinants of health. HIGHLIGHTS: Racially/ethnically minoritized individuals with frontotemporal dementia are severely underrepresented in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center datasetRacially/ethnically minoritized individuals with frontotemporal dementia obtained lower scores and greater likelihood of impairment on common neuropsychological testsThe effect of racial/ethnic group on neuropsychological test scores was substantially attenuated when adjusting for disease severity, education level, sex, and age.
Key findings
- Minoritized individuals had lower scores and/or greater likelihood of impairment on measures of lexical retrieval, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and working memory but not global cognition, verbal recall, attention, and category fluency.
- Addition of severity, age (M = 65.18), sex (40% female), education (M = 15.62), and vascular comorbidities attenuated group differences.
- Racial/ethnic differences on neuropsychological tests used in diagnosis and monitoring of FTD were substantially attenuated when accounting for potential contributing factors.
- To address these differences in FTD, future efforts must increase representative research participation of patients and understand social determinants of health.
- HIGHLIGHTS: Racially/ethnically minoritized individuals with frontotemporal dementia are severely underrepresented in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center datasetRacially/ethnically minoritized individuals with frontotemporal dementia obtained lower scores and greater likelihood of impairment on common neuropsychological testsThe effect of racial/ethnic group on neuropsychological test scores was substantially attenuated when adjusting for disease severity, education level, sex, and age.
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Study details
- Participants56
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 30 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 54 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 56 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| 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 | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41140436) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 30 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 30 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 54 out of 100. |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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.
APA 7th
Matyi, M. A., Rhodes, E., Emrani, S., Jin, H. A., Irwin, D. J., McMillan, C. T., et al. (2025). Racial/ethnic differences in neuropsychological test performance in frontotemporal degeneration. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.70190
Vancouver
Matyi MA, Rhodes E, Emrani S, Jin HA, Irwin DJ, McMillan CT, et al. Racial/ethnic differences in neuropsychological test performance in frontotemporal degeneration. Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 2025. doi:10.1002/dad2.70190. PMID: 41140436.
BibTeX
@article{matyi2025-41140436,
author = {Matyi, Melanie A and Rhodes, Emma and Emrani, Sheina and Jin, Hannah A and Irwin, David J and McMillan, Corey T and Massimo, Lauren},
title = {{Racial/ethnic differences in neuropsychological test performance in frontotemporal degeneration}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1002/dad2.70190},
pmid = {41140436},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.70190}
}
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