Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Decomposition of metabolic brain clusters in the frontal variant of frontotemporal dementia
Eric Salmon1, Nacer Kerrouche, Karl Herholz
1Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liege, B30 Sart Tilman, 4000 Liège, Belgium. eric.salmon@ulg.ac.be
Abstract:
Previous studies that measured brain activity in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) used univariate analyses, examining each region of interest separately. We explored in a multicenter European research program the principal brain clusters characterized by a common variability in cerebral metabolism in FTD. Seventy patients with frontal variant (fv) FTD were selected according to international clinical recommendations; principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on FDG-PET metabolic images, looking for covariance clusters in this large population. A first metabolic cluster included most of the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex, bilaterally; PC1 scores correlated with performances on memory and executive neuropsychological tasks. Moreover, FDG-PET images in fv-FTD were further characterized by a metabolic covariance in two clusters comprising the subcallosal medial frontal region, the temporal pole, medial temporal structures and the striatum, separately in the left and in the right hemisphere. The study provides original data-driven arguments for metabolic involvement of separate brain clusters in the rostral limbic system, corresponding to pathological poles differentially affected in each FTD patient.
Related Concept Videos
Dementia l: Introduction
Alzheimer Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Dementia
The progression of dementia is generally gradual.
Alzheimer Disease l: Introduction
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ and tau...
Association Areas of the Cortex
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...

