The importance of co-pathologies on neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia

TY - JOUR

T1 - The importance of co-pathologies on neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia

AU - Gibson, Lucy L.

AU - Aarsland, Dag

AU - Suemoto, Claudia K.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Gibson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) such as psychosis, depression, anxiety and apathy are highly prevalent across neurodegenerative dementias and are associated with greater cognitive deterioration, poorer quality of life and increased mortality risk [1]. The profile and evolution of NPS differs across dementia subtypes with clinical studies indicating psychosis is commonest in LBD [2]. There is an urgent need for better treatments of NPS, which requires understanding the underlying pathology. Indeed, NPS often emerge in the prodromal stages of dementia, sometimes termed mild behavioral impairment, suggesting early-stage neuropathology contributes to their etiology [3]. However, most studies rely on post-mortem clinico-pathological correlation in confirmed cases of dementia, usually with end stage disease, and the relationship between neuropathology and NPS in early disease remains unclear. Furthermore, it is increasingly apparent that most patients with DLB have multiple comorbid neuropathologies but the clinical impact of this is unknown [4].

AB - Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) such as psychosis, depression, anxiety and apathy are highly prevalent across neurodegenerative dementias and are associated with greater cognitive deterioration, poorer quality of life and increased mortality risk [1]. The profile and evolution of NPS differs across dementia subtypes with clinical studies indicating psychosis is commonest in LBD [2]. There is an urgent need for better treatments of NPS, which requires understanding the underlying pathology. Indeed, NPS often emerge in the prodromal stages of dementia, sometimes termed mild behavioral impairment, suggesting early-stage neuropathology contributes to their etiology [3]. However, most studies rely on post-mortem clinico-pathological correlation in confirmed cases of dementia, usually with end stage disease, and the relationship between neuropathology and NPS in early disease remains unclear. Furthermore, it is increasingly apparent that most patients with DLB have multiple comorbid neuropathologies but the clinical impact of this is unknown [4].

KW - Alzheimer's disease

KW - Hallucinations

KW - Lewy body dementia

KW - Neuropathology

KW - Neuropsychiatric symptoms

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144589682&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.18632/aging.204430

DO - 10.18632/aging.204430

M3 - Editorial

C2 - 36495589

AN - SCOPUS:85144589682

SN - 1945-4589

VL - 14

SP - 9384

EP - 9385

JO - Aging

JF - Aging

IS - 23

ER -