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Published on: June 3, 2020
Frontotemporal dementia as a frontostriatal disorder: neostriatal morphology as a biomarker and structural basis for
Jeffrey C L Looi1, Mark Walterfang, Dennis Velakoulis
1Research Centre for the Neurosciences of Ageing, Academic Unit of Psychological Medicine, Australian National University Medical School, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, Australia. jeffrey.looi@anu.edu.au
Objective:
This article reviews the evidence for a re-conceptualisation of a subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), as a frontostriatal disorder, working towards an endophenotype.
Method:
We provide an overview of the role of frontostriatal circuits relevant to FTLD and FTD, as a subset of larger-scale distributed brain networks. We discuss the role of a strategic structure in these circuits, the neostriatum. Then we review the relationship of the clinical features of FTLD to frontostriatal circuits, correlating this with neuropsychological and neuropathological data.
Conclusion:
The unique structure and linkages of the neostriatum make it an ideal structure for in vivo neuroimaging to understand the neuroanatomical basis of FTD. We develop a frontostriatal endophenotypic model for FTD as a platform for further investigation.
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