They decipher the connections between ALS and dementia that presents behavioral problems

Research led by the Spanish Sant Pau Research Institute deciphered the brain connections between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia, characterized by cognitive and behavioral problems.

The research was carried out by a group of scientists from various hospitals and research centers in Catalonia (northeast of Spain), led by doctors Álvaro Carbayo and Ricard Rojas, from the Neuromuscular Diseases Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute, in collaboration with doctors Sergi Borrego-Écija and Ellen Gelpi, from the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS).

The study, published in the journal Brain, reveals connections between ALS, a disease that affects motor neurons, and frontotemporal dementia, characterized by cognitive and behavioral problems.

“The results indicate that both diseases show a common clinical, genetic and pathological spectrum, although very heterogeneous”Rojas explained.

Thus, until fifty% of patients with motor neurone disease (ALS) develop cognitive behavioral symptoms at some point (frontotemporal dementia).

Furthermore, it was found that the 35.5% of the ALS cases studied also presented pathological characteristics of frontotemporal dementia.

The two diseases mostly share the pathological aggregation of the TDP-43 protein, something that can only be verified with samples taken from the brain and spinal cord of those affected once they have died.

The study found that this protein was present in a 93.6% of ALS cases, and was more extensive in those with the pathological coexistence of frontotemporal dementia.

These results highlight the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration between ALS and frontotemporal dementia professionals and units.