Why can’t we better detect bvFTD?

Abstract

[eng] The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is the most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease (Van Mossevelde et al., 2020), with the particularity that bvFTD does not erase memories but the sense of self and empathy towards others (Katisko et al., 2020). Its onset is usually under the age of 60 years old and progresses rapidly within an average life expectancy of seven years after clinical diagnosis (Convery et al., 2019). There is no specific test to detect bvFTD as symptoms overlap with those of other disorders (Shinagawa et al., 2016). Behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia is a rare and difficult disease in which to isolate essential genetic or neuropathological causes. There is an elevated link to genetic factors, however none seem to have a clear path on how the disease progresses. Several genes have been identified as playing a role in the development of the rapid degenerative disease, such as: C9orf72, GRN or MAPT (Convery et al., 2019). Neuroimaging is only reliable at advance stages of the disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) scan (FDG-PET) scans are used to determine what type of dementia is manifesting or in which area of the brain once the disease has progressed to a clinical evaluation (Häkkinen et al., 2020). New social cognitive tests are still elusive as to what defines a neurotypical adult (Russell et al., 2020). Recent studies have been indicating epigenetic factors as the answer to the variability of bvFTD (Curtis, 2017). This direction might reveal lifestyle choices that provoke a stronger, more devasting onset and development of the dementia and the loss of self.