Medications

No specific treatment is available for frontal lobe dementia in motor neuron disease.

• The few available treatments for motor neuron diseases have had little effect on the dementia. Riluzole (Rilutek) is currently the only approved medication for motor neuron diseases. No strong evidence shows that this drug improves dementia due to motor neuron disease.
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• Another drug widely used to treat motor neuron disease, gabapentin (Neurontin), has shown no positive effects on dementia.
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• Drugs called cholinesterase inhibitors used in Alzheimer disease (another type of dementia) may worsen irritability in people with frontal lobe dementia. These include donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon), and galantamine/galanthamine (Reminyl).

Behavior disturbances may improve with medication.

• Antidepressants that alter brain chemistry in certain ways can improve mood and/or calm agitation.
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• These include the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), and citalopram (Celexa).
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• Another type is the selective dopamine blockers, such as olanzapine (Zyprexa).