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Objective: The goal of the present work, based on a collaborative research registry in Italy (the Salento-Brescia Registry), was to assess the incidence of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and to define the frequencies of different FTLD phenotypes in the general population., Methods: The study was conducted from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017, in 2 Italian provinces: Lecce (in Puglia) in the south (area 2,799.07 km 2 , inhabitants 802,082) and Brescia (in Lombardy) in the north (area 4,785.62 km 2 , inhabitants 1,262,678). During the study period, all new cases of FTLD (incident FTLD) were counted, and all patients' records were reviewed. The incidence was standardized to the Italian general population in 2017., Results: In the 2 provinces, 63 patients with FTLD were diagnosed. The incidence rate for FTLD was 3.05 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.34-3.90) per 100,000 person-years (py), while the age-sex standardized incidence rate was 3.09 (95% CI 2.95-3.23) per 100,000 py. In the Italian population, the lifetime risk was 1:400. There was a progressive increase in FTLD incidence across age groups, reaching its peak in the 75- to 79-year-old group, with an incidence rate of 15.97 (95% CI 8.94-26.33) per 100,000 py. The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia was the most common phenotype (37%). No difference in crude incidence rate between the 2 provinces was observed., Conclusion: FTLD is a more common form of dementia than previously recognized, with a risk spanning in a wide age range and with maximum incidence in the mid-70s. Improved knowledge of FTLD epidemiology will help to provide appropriate public health service policies., (© 2019 American Academy of Neurology.)

The phonemic/semantic alternate fluency test seems to overcome some limits of the instruments currently used to assess set-shifting abilities. In particular, this test does not make high demands on motor systems because the subject is required to rapidly change mental set to generate words by continuously alternating between phonemic and semantic criteria. Thus, it is potentially feasible for use in individuals who have movement disorders. In this regard, some data support its sensitivity in revealing cognitive impairments in people suffering from frontal-striatal-related disorders. The first aim of this study was to provide standardization and normative data for the phonemic/semantic alternate fluency test. The second aim was to upgrade normative data for the single phonemic and semantic fluency tests. For these purposes, we administered to a sample of 335 healthy Italian subjects (ranging from 20 to 90 years), a test consisting of the following three subtests: (1) a single letter-cued (phonemic) fluency subtest; (2) a single category-cued (semantic) subtest; (3) a phonemic/semantic alternate fluency subtest. A composite shifting index was also derived to capture the shifting cost a subject pays passing from performance of the two single fluency subtests to performance of the alternate fluency subtest. We computed correction grids to adjust raw scores for age, literacy and gender according to the results of regression analyses. Moreover, we computed equivalent scores to permit direct and fast comparison of performance on the three fluency tests.

The mini mental Parkinson (MMP) is a test built to overcome the limits of the mini mental state examination (MMSE) in the short-time screening of cognitive disorders in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). In fact, in this scale, items tapping executive functioning are included to better capture PD-related cognitive changes. Some data sustain the sensitivity and validity of the MMP in the short neuropsychological screening of these individuals. Here, we report normative data on the MMP we collected on a sample of 307 Italian healthy subjects ranging from 40 to 91 years. The results document a detrimental effect of age and an ameliorative effect of education on the MMP total performance score. We provide for correction grids for age and literacy that derive from results of the regression analyses. Moreover, we also computed equivalent scores in order to allow a direct and fast comparison between the performance on the MMP and on other psychometric measures that can be administered to the subjects.