Prenatal gyrification pattern affects age at onset in frontotemporal dementia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neuroanatomy
• Neurodegenerative Diseases

Background:

• The paracingulate sulcus, a tertiary sulcus, develops in the third trimester.
• Paracingulate gyri are implicated in neurodegeneration observed in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).
• Left-hemisphere prevalence is typical in healthy individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of paracingulate sulcation in bvFTD.
• To determine the impact of paracingulate sulcation on disease expression in bvFTD.
• To compare findings with Alzheimer's disease and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Structural MRI scans analyzed for paracingulate sulcal presence in both hemispheres.
• Evaluated cohorts included individuals with bvFTD (n=105), Alzheimer's disease (n=92), and healthy controls (n=110).
• Statistical analyses assessed sulcal frequency and its correlation with age at disease onset.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in left hemisphere paracingulate sulcal frequency across bvFTD, Alzheimer's disease, and control groups (P=0.3).
• Right hemisphere paracingulate sulcation was associated with a later age at disease onset in bvFTD (P=0.04).
• This association between right paracingulate sulcation and age at onset was not observed in Alzheimer's disease.

Conclusions:

• Paracingulate sulcation, particularly in the right hemisphere, impacts the age of disease onset in bvFTD.
• Findings suggest a link between early brain development and neurodegenerative disease manifestation.
• This provides a morphological example of brain reserve in the context of neurodegeneration.