Active clinical trials for "Pick Disease of the Brain"

The goal of this study is to assess [18F]MNI-777 PET imaging as a tool to detect tau pathology in the brain of individuals who carry a clinical diagnosis of a tauopathy, including: Alzheimer's Disease (AD),Parkinson's disease (PD) Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and Frontal Temporal Dementia (FTD) and age- and gender-matched healthy subjects.

Frontal patients are impaired in categorisation and analogical reasoning tasks, and different functional imaging studies from our group have shown the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in categorisation and analogy tasks. The aim of this project is to test our hypotheses about the role of the prefrontal cortex in explicit and implicit categorisation and analogy tasks.

Background: - Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most common cause of early-onset dementia. Alzheimer s disease is the most common. Alzheimer s disease happens most often in the elderly, but FTD typically appears between 40 and 60 years of age. It also has a strong genetic component: Up to 40% of FTD cases are linked to positive family histories. Earlier diagnoses and genetic tests mean that people with FTD will spend more years in earlier stages of disease, aware that they have it. However, few studies have looked at the personal experiences or coping styles of people with FTD. Researchers want to interview people with FTD and their caregivers to understand their experiences with the disease. This information will help create better treatments and therapies for those affected by FTD. Objectives: - To study the experiences of persons with FTD and their primary caregivers. Eligibility: Individuals at least 18 years of age who have been diagnosed with FTD. Primary caregivers (spouse or partner at least 18 years of age) of individuals who have been diagnosed with FTD. Design: Before FTD participants are recruited, a pilot study will test the interview questions. This pilot study will be given to people with Alzheimer s disease and their caregivers. It will study how well people with dementia understand the interview questions. FTD study participants will be recruited through dementia care centers. All participants will have in-person interviews. These interviews will take up to 1 hour. Participants with FTD will answer questions about their experience with the disease. They will talk about their mental abilities, challenges, and coping strategies. Caregivers will answer questions about their experience in caring for someone with FTD. They will talk about their challenges and coping strategies. They will also talk about the person with FTD, and how aware they believe that the person is of the dementia symptoms. All participants will receive a small gift card as compensation for their time. No treatment will be provided as part of this study.

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate tau distribution in the brain of subjects with: FTD caused by different genetic mutations, any mutation carriers (with or without symptoms), any non-mutation carrier, any sporadic FTD, normal controls.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a rare clinical entity, in which both disorders are variably associated in the same patient or within the family. This adult-onset disorder, which is rapidly fatal, occurs in some families with autosomal dominant (AD) transmission and age-dependant penetrance. Two studies have provided evidence for linkage of this condition to chromosomes 15 (in a single family) and 9 (in five families). However, none of these loci have been yet confirmed. Through a national network of 10 centres with specialists for FTD and/or ALS, we have identified 35 probands with ALS-FTD, including 13 with a family history consistent with AD inheritance. Mutations in the SOD1 and tau genes, respectively responsible for autosomal dominant forms of ALS and FTD, will be excluded by direct sequencing. We will then extend the pedigree of the 13 autosomal dominant families to all consenting first, second and eventually third degree relatives, using well defined criteria for FTD and ALS. The same strategy will be applied to newly identified families during the course of the project (at least, seven families with AD inheritance expected). Linkage studies will be performed in the 20 families using markers from the two candidate regions on chromosomes 9 and 15. Then, refinement of the candidate region will be obtained by analyzing the linked families with a high density of microsatellite markers. This should lead to the refinement of the candidate regions, allowing to search for mutations in candidate genes. Genes located within the critical regions will be prioritized for their analysis by sequencing, according to their expression in the nervous system and to their function. Once the responsible gene(s) will be identified, it will then possible to define its spectrum of mutations and to establish genotype/phenotype correlations. Alternatively, if none of the candidate regions is confirmed, a genome wide search will be performed, allowing to identify one or more loci for ALS-FTD. The same strategy would then be applied to identify the corresponding gene(s). This project should contribute for identifying the molecular basis of this devastating disorder with practical consequences for genetic counselling in ALS-FTD families, and with the perspective of elucidating the pathophysiology of this disorder.

The investigators will test the feasibility of using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and speech therapy to treat participants with motor speech disorders caused by Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Pathology including nonfluent variant Primary Progressive Aphasia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Corticobasal Syndrome, or behavioral variant Frontotemporal Dementia. The investigators will deliver transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) either in a clinic setting at the University of California San Francisco, or in patients' homes, via a consumer tDCS device and videoconferencing. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation technique that can enhance the benefits of speech therapy treatment. Participants will receive a dose of tDCS stimulation + speech therapy and a dose of sham tDCS + speech therapy in a randomized double blind crossover study performed either in the clinic or at home via videoconferencing. This study can be performed entirely remotely.

The lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are monogenic disorders associated with inflammation affecting multiple organs, and early death. Few treatments are available that can modify the disease course, and there is an urgent need to identify new steps in pathogenesis that can be targeted therapeutically. The complement system is novel and highly plausible as a primary driver of inflammation and cellular injury in the LSDs. This study assesses the complement activation state in patients with Fabry disease (FD), Gaucher disease (GD) and Niemann-Pick disease, type C (NPC), with comparison to healthy controls. This has the potential for immense clinical benefit through targeted complement inhibition across the full spectrum of lysosomal storage disorders, in which key pathophysiological processes including the inflammatory response to lysosomally 'stored' materials are shared.

This research is being done to develop a unique matching process for caregivers of persons living with dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal degeneration, or other dementia syndromes. Dementia caregivers often assume greater caregiving burden than do non-dementia caregivers, and the caregiving duration tends to be longer. Many caregivers do not have the adequate support they need. Peer-to-peer support has been shown to improve quality of life, increase use of services, improve caregiver health, and reduce hospitalizations in the person they are caring for. This study will assess a technology platform and matching process for the purpose of peer-to-peer emotional support aimed at improving overall wellbeing in dementia care partners/caregivers.

The objectives of the study are to; (1) estimate the change in disease -related cognitive decline over 1 year on a battery of cognitive tests administered to participants with early-stage symptomatic Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) phenotypic variant; (2) identify the cognitive test or brief battery of cognitive tests which are the most sensitive to detect bvFTD progression; (3) determine the optimal schedule of administration of cognitive tests to detect bvFTD progression; (4) evaluate the relationship between cognitive tests and measures of behavior, function, caregiver's burden, quality of life (QOL); and (5) obtain blood samples for genetic and exploratory biomarkers correlations.

Apathy can be defined as a quantitative reduction of voluntary or goal-directed behavior. So, the investigators propose a behavioral approach for assessing apathy, to obtain a quantifiable and objective signature of reduced goal-directed behavior by directly observing a patient in a real-life situation. ECOCAPTURE consists of a multi-step scenario in a functional exploration platform equipped with data acquisition system based on video and sensors that track a participant's behavior. The primary objective of this trial is to create a diagnostic tool for apathy, based on the video and sensors metrics. A secondary objective of this trial is to validate a new experimental task (ICM_APATHY_TASKS) to test independently three main presumed mechanisms of apathy (motivation, cognitive inertia and coupling between motivation and action). Another secondary objective aims to specify the pathophysiological mechanisms of apathy, corresponding to cognitive and behavioral processes, neural bases and neurohormonal mechanisms. The definition of pathophysiological mechanisms will allow the classification of apathetic patients (or several forms of apathy) and indicate which mechanism (s) best explains the apathy in a given patient.