Intellectual failure in FTD is distinctly different from that of Alzheimer's patients. Results of intelligence tests are normal in those with FTD until the point in the disease when disinterest results in lower scores. Testing and Diagnosis FTD can be accurately diagnosed with brain scans or imaging. Degeneration of the corpus striatum, thalamus and other subcortical structures occurs. In autopsies, brain tissue changes include large neuronal cell loss with secondary spongiform change and astrocyctic gliosis.
Neuropsychological testing is useful to obtain a clinical assessment of the disease.
Tests evaluate conduct, language, visuo-spatial abilities, memory, abstraction, planning and mental control, motor skills and intelligence. Responses may be impulsive and tasks readily abandoned, while other patients may be slow, inert and persistent. Some patients may make mechanical, repetitive remarks, echo words spoken by others, or repeat responses. Overactive patients may be the opposite, with unconstrained speech. Failure to respond or inappropriate responses should not be assumed to be incomprehension, but rather a concreteness of thinking or inattention.