Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Dec;21(12):e70996. doi: 10.1002/alz.70996.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Sex differences in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) remain understudied, especially when controlling for sex differences already existing in the general population.
METHODS: Clinical features were analyzed in 620 bvFTD participants. Sex-diagnosis interactions were examined in 1029 bvFTD and 1029 healthy control (HC) participants for neuropsychiatric symptoms, and in 1109 bvFTD and 1109 HC participants for cognitive, behavioral, and language measures.
RESULTS: Males with bvFTD showed greater-than-expected loss of empathy and nighttime behavioral symptoms relative to females, based on sex-by-diagnosis interactions. They also exhibited higher-than-expected punishment sensitivity. In contrast, females with bvFTD showed greater-than-expected impairments in semantic fluency and picture naming relative to HC females.
DISCUSSION: Findings reveal that males with bvFTD present with more prominent behavioral disturbances, while females with bvFTD experience greater language impairments. This work is an important step toward integrating social determinants of health, such as sex, into the diagnostic and care paradigms for bvFTD.
HIGHLIGHTS: Males with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) show more empathy loss and nighttime behavioral symptoms Females with bvFTD have greater deficits in naming and semantic fluency Findings support including sex in diagnostic and care models for bvFTD.
PMID:41457063 | DOI:10.1002/alz.70996
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