| Title |
Neural correlates of changes in sexual function in frontotemporal dementia: implications for reward and physiological functioning
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Neurology, August 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00415-018-9024-3 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Rebekah M. Ahmed, Zoë-lee Goldberg, Cassandra Kaizik, Matthew C. Kiernan, John R. Hodges, Olivier Piguet, Muireann Irish |
| Abstract |
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is characterised by changes in behaviour including alterations in sexual function. While hypersexual behaviour is commonly thought to predominate, emerging evidence suggests that hyposexual behaviour is in fact most prevalent. The underlying mechanisms driving these behavioural changes remain unclear; however, likely reflect interactions between cognitive, emotional, reward processing and physiological functioning. We aimed to systematically quantify changes in sexual behaviour in behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD) and semantic dementia (SD) in contrast with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to elucidate the neural correlates of these changes using whole-brain voxel-based morphometry. Carers of 62 dementia patients (30 bvFTD, 12 SD, 20 AD) were interviewed using the Sexual Behaviour and Intimacy Questionnaire, which assesses changes in sexual function. Voxel-based morphometry analysis of structural MRI brain scans was used to determine the association between changes in grey matter intensity and the presence of hyposexual, hypersexual, and inappropriate sexual behaviour across groups. Widespread attenuation of sexual drive, intimacy and the display of affection were evident irrespective of dementia subtype. In contrast, hypersexual and inappropriate sexual behaviour was present in only a small proportion of patients. Neuroimaging analyses revealed an association between hyposexual behaviour and atrophy of the right supramarginal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and thalamus, whilst hypersexual behaviour was associated with cerebellar atrophy. Counter to the prevailing view, younger-onset dementia syndromes predominantly display an attenuation in sexual drive. Changes in sexual function likely reflect the degeneration of cortical and subcortical neural circuits implicated in reward, autonomic function, empathy, and emotional processing. |
X Demographics
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Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1 | 20% |
| United States | 1 | 20% |
| Unknown | 3 | 60% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 5 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 63 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 63 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 13% |
| Researcher | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Master | 5 | 8% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 4 | 6% |
| Other | 8 | 13% |
| Unknown | 24 | 38% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 15 | 24% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 14 | 22% |
| Neuroscience | 3 | 5% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 1 | 2% |
| Linguistics | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 28 | 44% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 12. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 June 2022.
All research outputs
#2,971,581
of 25,097,836 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Neurology
#605
of 4,920 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#57,183
of 340,471 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Neurology
#12
of 59 outputs
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