Frontotemporal Dementia News and Research

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Antibiotic rifampicin attenuates C9orf72-linked dementia in genetically modified mice

What did Stephen Hawking and Mao Zedong have in common? They both suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a cure for which remains elusive. Scientists from Osaka Metropolitan University took an important step toward prevention of ALS and another brain disorder called Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with their research on the effects of the antibiotic rifampicin on genetically modified mice.

23 May 2022

People with young-onset Alzheimer’s experience faster symptom progression than older counterparts

People diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at a younger age will experience faster symptom progression than their older counterparts, a new study has found, potentially causing their support systems to fall behind.

16 May 2022

Study finds promising new treatment for patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

A Monash University led study has found a promising new treatment for patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, the second most common form of dementia in the under 60s – resulting in a stabilising of what would normally be escalating behavioural issues, and a slowing of brain shrinkage due to the disease.

6 May 2022

Brain folds formed during fetal development could affect age at onset in frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia begins relatively early compared to other forms of dementia. We still know relatively little about what causes the disease, however, new research from Lund University in Sweden shows that the folds in the brain that are formed in the latter stages of pregnancy could have an impact on the age at which the disease takes hold.

3 May 2022

Single-cell genome sequencing provides a new way to think about Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer's disease is marked by a loss of functional neurons in the brain. But what causes this loss? Through single-cell genome sequencing, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Broad Institute show that people with Alzheimer's have an abundance of newly acquired mutations in their neurons -; more than people of the same age without Alzheimer's, and enough to disable genes important to brain function.

20 Apr 2022

Inhibiting key signaling pathway in immune cells may slow down Alzheimer's disease

Inhibiting an important signaling pathway in brain-resident immune cells may calm brain inflammation and thereby slow the disease process in Alzheimer's and some other neurodegenerative diseases, suggests a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

14 Apr 2022

Researchers discover over 40 new genetic markers for Alzheimer’s disease

A new Nature Genetics study describes over 70 gene markers that appear to be significantly associated with AD risk using translational genomics.

6 Apr 2022

Researchers identify motor neuron toxin associated with ALS

An international team of investigators has discovered that an inorganic polyphosphate released by nerve cells known as astrocytes in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) contributes to the motor neuron death that is the signature of these diseases.

10 Mar 2022

Evaluating the Seven Components of Wisdom

In this interview, we speak to Professor Dilip Jeste about what 'wisdom' actually is, how it can be assessed, and what this can mean for our health.

10 Mar 2022

Damage to general intelligence brain networks makes it difficult for dementia patients to cope with change

People with dementia struggle to adapt to changes in their environment because of damage to areas of the brain known as 'multiple demand networks', highly-evolved areas of the brain that support general intelligence, say scientists at the University of Cambridge.

9 Mar 2022

Patients divided over Alzheimer’s drug: Is it a ‘risk I’m willing to take’ or just a ‘magic pill’?

If you listen to the nation's largest Alzheimer's disease advocacy organizations, you might think everyone living with Alzheimer's wants unfettered access to Aduhelm, a controversial new treatment.

7 Mar 2022

Novel molecular pathway shared by two neurodegenerative disorders discovered

Scientists from two independent research teams have discovered how the mislocalization of a protein, known as TDP-43, alters the genetic instructions for UNC13A, providing a possible therapeutic target that could also have implications in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and other forms of dementia.

28 Feb 2022

Research reveals why a common genetic variant worsens outcomes for people with ALS and FTD

A pioneering new study led by UCL and National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists has revealed, for the first time, why a common genetic variant worsens disease outcomes for people with the devastating adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

24 Feb 2022

Being fit can protect older people against mild cognitive impairment

Seventy- to eighty-year-olds who train for better fitness are better at solving cognitive tasks and are less likely to suffer cognitive impairment.

10 Feb 2022

Relationship between SARS-CoV-2 neurotropism and Alzheimer's disease

In a new study, researchers evaluated the neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2 and its impact on COVID-19 patients with and without neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease.

3 Feb 2022

Tau mapping offers potential treatment targets and biomarkers for dementia and Alzheimer disease

By mapping all the protein interactions of a dementia-linked protein in the brain called Tau, a team of Weill Cornell Medicine investigators has created a road map for identifying potential new treatment targets for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia.

21 Jan 2022

Researchers uncover new findings about the role of tau in neurodegenerative disease

Utilizing cutting-edge proteomics, researchers at the Buck Institute and elsewhere have mapped the "tau interactome" uncovering new findings about the role of tau in neurodegenerative disease. Publishing in Cell, scientists found that mutant tau impacts the function of mitochondria in human neurons.

20 Jan 2022

Combination of rifampicin and resveratrol helps stop dementia, finds study

Dementia is thought to occur when proteins called amyloid-β, tau, and α-synuclein accumulate in the brain and form oligomers. A research group from the Department of Translational Neuroscience, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, had previously shown in a study using mice that the antibiotic rifampicin removes oligomers from the brain and improves cognitive function.

29 Dec 2021

Single-patient pilot study shows the ability of antisense oligonucleotide to suppress mutant ALS gene

Using a short, synthetic chain of chemically modified nucleotides engineered in the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School, Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, Jonathan Watts, PhD, and colleagues have shown the ability to suppress mutant forms of an ALS gene known as C9ORF72 in a single-patient pilot study.

24 Dec 2021

Scientists determine structure of the molecule associated with ALS for the first time

Scientists have determined for the first time the structure of the molecule associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple other neurodegenerative diseases.

9 Dec 2021