Impulsivity, decreased social exploration, and executive dysfunction in a mouse model of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, a major subset of which is characterized by the accumulation of abnormal forms of the protein tau, leading to impairments in motor functions as well as language and behavioral alterations. Tau58-2/B mice express human tau with the P301S mutation found in familial forms of FTLD in neurons. By assessing three age cohorts of Tau58-2/B mice in a comprehensive behavioral test battery, we found that the tauopathy animals showed age-dependent signs of impulsivity, decreased social exploration and executive dysfunction. The deficit in executive function was first limited to decreased spatial working memory, but with aging this was extended to impaired instrumental short-term memory. Tau pathology was prominent in brain regions underlying these behaviors. Thus, Tau-58-2/B mice recapitulate neurological deficits of the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), presenting them as a suitable model to test therapeutic interventions for the amelioration of this variant.