BEHAVIORAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS in the CLINICAL PICTURE of DEMENTIA

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) can cause significant functional disability in patients and represent a source of distress for caregivers. Due to their prevalence and specific features, some of BPSD have been included in the diagnostic criteria of dementing illnesses, as in the case of frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia. In other cases, BPSD have shown to be useful predictors of disease, such as apathy in patients with mild cognitive impairment, which is associated with the risk of developing a dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, or REM behavior disorder (RBD), associated with the risk of developing alfa-synucleinopathies. Bearing in mind the research work done on cognitive deficits, a precise phenotypization, supported by a corresponding biomarker, may promote and expand the use of BPSD in the diagnostic workup and in predicting the evolution of disease.