Eating disturbance in behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia

Abstract

Behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder, clinically characterised by changes in cognition, personality and behaviour. Marked disturbances in eating behaviour, such as overeating and preference for sweet foods, are also commonly reported. This paper reviews the current literature on eating abnormalities in bvFTD, their clinical characteristics and biological correlates, and the contribution of hypothalamus to eating regulation. Existing literature shows that disturbance in an orbitofrontal-insular-striatal brain network underlies the emergence of eating disturbance in bvFTD. In addition, recent evidence indicates that degeneration and consequent dysregulation within the hypothalamus relates to significant feeding disturbance in this disease. These findings could provide a basis for the development of therapeutic models in bvFTD.