From narcissistic personality disorder to frontotemporal dementia: A case report

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Poletti, Michele | Bonuccelli, Ubaldo^;

Affiliations: Neurology Unit, Versilia Hospital, Lido di Camaiore (LU), Italy | Neuroscience Department, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Note: [] Address for correspondence: Prof. Ubaldo Bonuccelli, Department of Neuroscience, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. Tel.: +39 0584 6059539; Fax: +39 0584 6059539; E-mail: u.bonuccelli@med.unipi.it

Abstract: Premorbid personality characteristics could have a pathoplastic effect on behavioral symptoms and personality changes related to neurodegenerative diseases. Patients with personality disorders, in particular of the dramatic cluster, may present functional frontolimbic abnormalities. May these neurobiological vulnerabilities linked to a premorbid personality disorder predispose or represent a risk factor to subsequently develop a neurodegenerative disorder? Are subjects with personality disorders more at risk to develop a dementia than mentally healthy subjects? This topic is discussed presenting the clinical case of a patient who suffered of a probable Narcissistic Personality Disorder and subsequently developed a clinically diagnosed Frontotemporal Dementia.

Keywords: Narcissistic personality disorder, frontotemporal dementia, risk factors

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-2011-0326

Journal: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 173-176, 2011