Rehabilitative Trial for the Rescue of Neurophysiological Parameters in Progranulin Deficient Subjects (ReRescuePGR)

This is an interventional treatment trial for Frontotemporal Dementia focused on measuring TMS, tDCS, Rehabilitation Read More

Inclusion Criteria: presymptomatic carriers, symptomatic genetic FTD patients, symptomatic sporadic FTD patients.

• Presymptomatic carriers: defined as participants who are known carriers of a pathogenic mutation in the GRN gene, who do not fulfill current criteria for the behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) (Rascovsky et al. 2011) or for the Primary Progressive Aphasias (PPA) (Gorno-Tempini et al. 2011). All subjects will be genotyped for known pathogenic mutations for FTD (GRN, C9orf72, MAPT, TDP-43) before participation.
• Symptomatic genetic FTD: defined as patients who are known carriers of pathogenic mutation in the GRN gene, fulfilling current clinical criteria for behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) (Rascovsky et al. 2011) or the agrammatic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (avPPA) (Gorno-Tempini et al. 2011).
• Symptomatic sporadic FTD: defined as patients fulfilling current clinical criteria for behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) (Rascovsky et al. 2011) or the agrammatic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (avPPA) (Gorno-Tempini et al. 2011), with a negative screening for pathogenic mutations in known FTD genes (GRN, C9orf72, MAPT, TDP-43). CSF analysis or amyloid PET imaging will be carried out to exclude focal variants of AD.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cerebrovascular disorders, previous stroke, hydrocephalus, and intra-cranial mass documented by MRI.
• History of traumatic brain injury or other neurological diseases.
• Serious medical illness other than FTD
• History of seizures
• Pregnancy
• Metal implants in the head (except dental fillings)
• Electronic implants (i.e. pace-maker, implanted medical pump)
• Age <18 years