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Possible Biomarkers for Frontotemporal Dementia and to Differentiate from Alzheimer’s Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

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Neurodegenerative Diseases Biomarkers

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 173))

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Abstract

Though not as well-known as Alzheimer’s disease, yet with a prevalence of 15–22/100,000, and an incidence 2.7–4.1/100,000 cases per year, frontotemporal dementia is a grave, chronic neurodegenerative disorder with low life expectancy, a survival comparable to that of Alzheimer’s disease, and a distressing clinical course for patients as well as family and caregivers. Given that some pathological features in many neurodegenerative diseases are convergent, coupled with the fact that treatment for one specific disease may worsen outcome if misdiagnosed for another, the need for sensitive and specific biomarkers has garnered the attention of physicians and neuroscientists alike. Here, we explore the clinical presentation of frontotemporal dementia with a focus on behavioral manifestations. We also discuss neuroanatomy and specific symptomology as a guiding diagnostic tool given that affected regions of the cortex are responsible for certain movements, motivation, reward processing, decision making, executive function, expression, language functions, social inhibition, and many of the complex social functions. Finally, we review the most commonly used biomarkers in the workup and assessment of neurodegenerative disorders, with a focus on both structural and biofluid markers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, St. Georges Medical University, True Blue, Grenada

    Donald M. R. Harker

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Reno School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Ruben K. Dagda

  3. Department of Pharmacology, Reno School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Bridget Martinez

  4. Department of Medicine, Reno School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Bridget Martinez

Authors
  1. Donald M. R. Harker
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  2. Bridget Martinez
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  3. Ruben K. Dagda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bridget Martinez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Philip V. Peplow

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Reno School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Bridget Martinez

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, George Washington University, West Chester, PA, USA

    Thomas A. Gennarelli

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Harker, D.M.R., Martinez, B., Dagda, R.K. (2022). Possible Biomarkers for Frontotemporal Dementia and to Differentiate from Alzheimer’s Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In: Peplow, P.V., Martinez, B., Gennarelli, T.A. (eds) Neurodegenerative Diseases Biomarkers. Neuromethods, vol 173. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1712-0_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1712-0_16

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1711-3

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