Neuropsychiatric Features Across Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are a major manifestation of neurodegenerative diseases(NDDs) including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). NPS symptoms are a determining factor impacting economic and psychological costs for both the patient and their caregivers in these devastating illness. Recent developments in neuroscience have clarified the relationship of NPS with changes in brain structures, alterations in neural circuits and networks, and their neurotransmitter systems. It is increasingly recognized that NPS shared across different NDDs might have shared alterations in neural circuits and networks, and their neurotransmitter systems and ways to modulate them theraputcally. This chapter focuses on the more common NPS and their links to causative neurodegenerative processes that transcend specific diseases.