Brain in Pick's disease. Light micrograph of a section through tissue from a brain affected by Pick's disease. Pick's disease, or frontotemporal dementia, is a rare neurodegenerative disorder causing progressive destruction of nerve cells in the brain. Symptoms may include dementia and loss of speech. As with most dementia-type conditions, some symptoms can initially be alleviated, however as the disease progresses this becomes less possible and most patients die within two to ten years.