The authors review the relationship of repetitive behaviors to frontal
lobe degenerations and report the repetitive and compulsive behaviors,
radiologic imaging findings, and neuropathology of 3 patients with dementia
secondary to frontal lobe degeneration. These 3 patients and 78% of 46
proven pathologic cases of frontal lobe degeneration described in the
literature demonstrate repetitive behaviors ranging from motor stereotypies
to complex obsessive-compulsive disorder. This review suggests that
combined damage to the frontal lobe, caudate nucleus, and globus pallidus
may account for the repetitive behaviors seen in frontal lobe
degenerations, idiopathic obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other
neuropsychiatric diseases.
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