Psychotic-Like Speech in Frontotemporal Dementia.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Descriptive case series / observational subgroup report without reported controls.
PubMed 27707194 · doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.16030058
What was done
The authors identified and examined a subgroup of individuals with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) presenting with psychotic-like speech characteristics and evaluated their neuroanatomical patterns of brain atrophy.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data, effect sizes, or participant numbers. It notes that a subgroup of bvFTD patients exhibited psychotic-like speech phenomena—specifically pressure of speech, tangentiality, derailment, clanging/rhyming, and punning—in the absence of other psychotic features, which was associated with right anterior temporal atrophy and sparing of the left frontal lobe.
Why it matters
It highlights a distinct clinical phenotype in bvFTD where formal thought disorder-like speech occurs without overt psychosis, pointing to a possible right anterior temporal neuroanatomical basis.
Limits
The abstract provides no sample size, demographic details, inclusion criteria, statistical measures, or control group comparisons, precluding independent evaluation of the findings.
Cited by
- context Clang associations, where speech is guided by rhyming rather than semantic meaning, are a hallmark clinical sign of psychosis and schizophrenia.