Diagnosing dementia prior to cognitive symptoms

Memory loss, accompanied with the loss of control of everyday activities, is a scary thing to imagine. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a degenerative brain disease, affects behavior, language and motor control. However, as with many incurable diseases, early detection can help prepare providers and patients with the necessary tools to alleviate symptoms. A recent study has discovered that those with a specific genetic mutation, and therefore increased risk for developing FTD, show a thinning of the retina prior to any symptoms of dementia (Ward et al. 2014). Over time, researchers correlated retinal thinning with disease progression. These findings make neurological sense as the retina is directly connected to the brain through these neurons. As one of the earliest manifestations of this disease-associated mutation, this finding is a potential, less invasive, diagnostic tool to observe neuronal changes before cognitive symptoms present.

References:

Ward ME, Taubes A, Chen R, Miller BL, Sephton CF, Gelfand JM, Minami S, Boscardin J, Martens LH, Seeley WW, Yu G, Herz J, Filiano AJ, Arrant AE, Roberson ED, Kraft TW, Farese RV, Green A, Gan L. 2014. Early retinal neurodegeneration and impaired Ran-mediated nuclear import of TDP-43 in progranulin-deficient FTLD. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 211(10): 1937-1945.

Other resources:

Gladstone Institutes. 25 August 2014. Changes in eye can predict changes in brain. ScienceDaily [Internet]. Available from: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140825100037.htm

http://memory.ucsf.edu/ftd/overview