The spectrum of behavioral disorders in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: current view

Behavioral disorders, with an average prevalence of 30–60% are important non-motor symptoms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that have a negative impact on prognosis, management and quality of life, yet the underlying neurobiology is poorly understood.

Among people with ALS, apathy, fatigue, anxiety, irritability and other behavioral symptoms are the most prominent, although less frequent than cognitive impairment.

The present review explores the current understanding of behavioral changes in ALS with particular emphasis on our current knowledge about their structural and functional brain correlates, substantiating a multisystem degeneration with particular dysfunction of frontal-subcortical circuits and dysfunction of fronto-striatal, frontotemporal and other essential brain systems.

The natural history of behavioral dysfunctions in ALS and their relationship to frontotemporal lobe degeneration (FTLD) are not fully understood, although they form a clinical continuum, suggesting a differential vulnerability of non-motor brain networks, ALS being considered a brain network disorder.

An assessment of risks or the early detection of brain connectivity signatures before structural changes may be helpful in investigating the pathophysiological mechanisms of behavioral impairment in ALS.

Treatment of both ALS and co-morbid behavioral disorders is a multidisciplinary task, but whereas no causal or disease-modifying therapies for ALS are available, symptomatic treatment of a variety of behavioral symptoms plays a pivotal role in patient care, although the management of behavioral symptoms in clinical care still remains limited.