What Is Subcortical Dementia?

Subcortical dementia is deterioration of areas in the brain beneath the cerebral cortex. Another name for subcortical dementia is Binswanger's disease. Dementia in the subcortical form is rare.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of subcortical dementia are unusual blood pressures, blood abnormalities, stroke, disease of large blood vessels in the neck, heart valve disease, depression, clumsiness, irritability or apathy.

Complications

• Subcortical dementia creates complications surrounding attention, motivation and emotions. Binswanger's disease impairs memory, language, problem-solving skills and reasoning skills.

Treatment

• Subcortical dementia is incurable, and treatments for the disease depend on the symptoms presented by the patient. Doctors prescribe medications for high or low blood pressure, depression and heart arrhythmias.

Final Stage

• The final stage of subcortical dementia is the complete loss of brain function.

Dementia: Subcortical vs. Cortical

• Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia are cortical dementias, and cortical dementia patients experience more complications with memory, language, problem-solving, and reasoning skills than patients with subcortical dementia. Both kinds of dementia result in loss of brain function.