Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Subcortical and Deep Cortical Atrophy in Frontotemporal Dementia due to Granulin Mutations
Enrico Premi1, Valentina Garibotto2, Stefano Gazzina1
1Centre for Ageing Brain and Neurodegenerative Disorders, Neurology Unit, Brescia, Italy.
Background/Aims:
Parkinsonism is often associated with symptoms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), but its pathogenesis has been largely neglected. In genetic inherited FTD-related granulin (GRN) mutations, parkinsonism is an early sign, and it is more common than in sporadic disorders. Our aim was to study grey matter (GM) volume changes in subcortical and deep cortical regions in GRN-related FTD.
Methods:
A total of 33 FTD patients (13 carriers of the GRN mutation, GRN+, and 20 non-carriers, GRN-) and 12 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study. Each subject underwent an MRI examination (1) for voxel-based morphometry to study GM differences in cortical and subcortical regions, and (2) for a region of interest approach using a probabilistic atlas of subcortical regions (caudate nucleus, putamen, thalamus and amygdala) to assess the regional differences.
Results:
The GRN+ group showed greater damage in frontotemporal regions than the GRN- group. The FTD patients had greater GM atrophy in the caudate nucleus and in the thalamus bilaterally than the HC. Damage to these subcortical and deep cortical regions was greater in the GRN+ than in the GRN- patients.
Discussion:
Subcortical and deep cortical involvement is a key feature of FTD, and more pronounced in GRN-related disease. Damage to the caudate region in GRN+ patients may explain the parkinsonism frequently associated since the early stages of the disease.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Alzheimer Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Alzheimer Disease l: Introduction
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
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...
Dementia l: Introduction
Parkinson Disease ll: Pathophysiology

