Abstract

A REVIEW ARTICLE ON FRONTO TEMPORAL DEMENTIA

Harichandana Punukula* and Shalini Arikeri

ABSTRACT

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a focal clinical syndrome associated with circumscribed degeneration of the prefrontal and anterior temporal cortex and characterised by deep changes in personality and social behaviour. In the middle years of life, onset typically occurs and survival is about 8 years. The presence in some patients of microtubule-associated proteintau-based pathological features and the discovery of tau genetic mutations in some familial cases link FTD to other forms of tauopathy, including certain progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. Besides that, there is no apparent abnormality in the tau gene or protein in more than half of all FTD patients, including some with a strong family history, which indicates pathological and etiological heterogeneity. Both for clinical management and theoretical understanding of its neurobiological substrate, FTD provides a challenge.

Keywords: Proteintau, tauopathy, corticobasal, neurobiological substrate.