[Thalamic dementia (author's transl)]

The CAT-scan permits the localization of small thalamic lesions. Based on such findings various clinical syndromes can be evaluated which before the era of computertomography could be diagnosed by histological examination of the brain only. It is well known that the bilateral destruction of certain thalamic nuclei leads to a dementia which Grünthal (1942) accordingly coined thalamic dementia. The features of this syndrome of dementia have been discussed in detail; as to the clinical picture, the striking correspondence with bifrontal syndromes has been emphasized. It has been stressed that despite a decline of social intelligence the formal intelligence, as measured by standard tests, may be preserved, a fact likewise comparable with frontal syndromes. Finally, the question has been discussed how to delineate the amnesic thalamic syndrome and the syndrome of thalamic dementia.