J Clin Neurol.  2008 Jun;4(2):94-98. 10.3988/jcn.2008.4.2.94.

Severe Episodic Memory Impairment in a Patient With Clinical Features Compatible With Corticobasal Degeneration

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Neurology, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea. neuropark@dau.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.

Abstract

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by asymmetric parkinsonism associated with apraxia, cortical sensory loss, and alien-limb phenomenon. Neuropsychological testing in patients with CBD typically shows deficits in executive functions, praxis, language, and visuospatial functioning, but not in memory. We report a CBD patient with severely impaired memory function but relatively mild motor symptoms. Detailed neuropsychological assessment showed significant verbal and visual memory deficits accompanied by frontal executive dysfunctions. Our observations indicate that CBD can in rare cases present with severe episodic memory impairment associated with frontal executive dysfunctions in the early stage of illness.

Keyword

Corticobasal degeneration; Episodic memory; PET

MeSH Terms

Apraxias
Executive Function
Humans
Memory
Memory Disorders
Memory, Episodic
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neuropsychological Tests
Parkinsonian Disorders

Figure

  • Figure 1 Brain MRI showing significant cortical atrophy in both parietal areas, which was more prominent on the left side with diffuse cortical atrophic changes in T1-weighted images.

  • Figure 2 Brain FDG-PET imaging with SPM analysis showing prominent asymmetric (left-dominant) hypometabolism on both parietal and left temporal areas. Significant hypometabolism was also observed in both frontal lobes.


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