View clinical trials related to Frontotemporal Dementia.
Filter by:A first in human phase 1 study in healthy volunteers and participants with Granulin (GRN) mutation causative of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) to assess AL001 safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics
This is an open-label study to evaluate the performance of a novel tau imaging ligand in up to 36 subjects (12 AD, 3 FTD, 3 PSP, 3 CBS, 3 VCI and 12 HV). Subjects will be recruited from the patient population and healthy volunteers of Taiwan residents. This study protocol requires each subject to complete the following components: screening evaluation, brain MRI and 18F-PM-PBB3 PET imaging up to two sessions. The screening procedures will include neuropsychological assessments, vital signs, ECG, physical examinations and laboratory tests. In addition, 18F-AV-45 PET imaging result will be as a part of inclusion criteria to confirm presence of amyloid deposition in patients with clinically diagnosed probable AD or absence of amyloid deposition in FTD, VCI and HV subjects. Furthermore, 18F-AV-133 PET imaging data will also be as a part of inclusion criteria to confirm the diagnosis of PSP and CBS. All subjects will complete clinical assessments and clinical safety tests to ensure the subject is medically stable to complete the study protocol. The screening procedures will occur within 30 days prior to 18F-PMPBB3 PET imaging.
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the neurodegeneration of language brain systems. Three main clinical variants are currently recorgnized (nonfluent, semantic, and logopenic PPA). Nowadays, there are no effective treatments for this disorder. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a technique based on the principle of electromagnetic induction of an electric field in the brain. It has been used as a non-invasive therapy in different disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease, and in the rehabilitation of post-stroke aphasia. Recent studies have shown how repetitive TMS improved language characteristics in Alzheimer's disease, and there are initial data in patients with PPA. This research project investigates the effect of repetitive TMS in patients with PPA. Investigators will perform a personalized TMS treatment for each patient (brain region, type of stimulation/inhibition, etc.), according to the specific characteristics of each patient and with the final aim to generate a computational model.
The goal of this study is to characterize tau kinetics and tau aggregation in the human CNS and to test the hypothesis that tau kinetics are altered (i.e. increased production, decreased clearance, and increased aggregation rate) in tauopathies.
The overall goal of this imaging trial is to evaluate [18F]PI-2620, a tau targeted positron emission computed tomography radioligand, in individuals with tauopathies and healthy volunteers (HV).
This is an observational study that aims to better understand the genetic causes of frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA), and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). It is hoped the information gathered in this study will help lead to better diagnostics and future treatments.
This pilot study aims to test clinical and connectivity changes following non-invasive stimulation of disease-specific networks in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Brain network stimulation will be carried out with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Target networks will be the default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SN). Twenty AD and 20 bvFTD patients will be recruited and assessed with a comprehensive clinical, behavioral and cognitive battery, and 3 Tesla MRI scan (including resting-state functional MRI, arterial spin labeling, diffusion tensor imaging, structural MRI) at three time-points: baseline, after tDCS, and after 6 months. Patients will be randomized to 2 arms: anodal stimulation of the disease-specific network (DMN in AD, SN in bvFTD) or cathodal stimulation of the anti-correlated network (SN in AD, DMN in bvFTD). The intervention will consist of 10 tDCS sessions over two weeks. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples will be collected at baseline for biomarker's assessment; blood samples will be collected at each time-point to assess changes in peripheral inflammatory markers. Blood and CSF collection will be optional. A sample of 20 elderly controls will be included for baseline comparisons.
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) includes three variants. Two such variants, the non-fluent/agrammatic variant (nfvPPA) and the logopenic variant (lvPPA), are characterized by progressive word-finding difficulties and effortful speech. Efforts to slow or halt this progression have been largely unsuccessful. As such, there is a desperate need for novel treatment strategies in PPA. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a safe, non-invasive way of stimulating cortical targets in a focal and reproducible manner. Therapeutic benefits from rTMS have been demonstrated when it is applied in many sequential sessions. For example, repeated sessions of rTMS to left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is approved by the US Food and Drug administration as a treatment for major depressive disorder. With respect to language, high frequency rTMS increases the response rate for picture naming in healthy individuals. rTMS has also been shown to improve the number of correct naming responses in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Further, in a sham controlled study, Cotelli and colleagues demonstrated that in a group of 10 nfvPPA patients high frequency rTMS over the left and right dlPFC during object and action naming tasks improved the percent of correct responses for action, but not object naming. Finally, in a sham controlled single case study, Finocchiaro et al. applied high frequency rTMS to the left inferior mid-frontal gyrus for 3 sessions consisting of five consecutive days (treatment or sham). They found a significant and lasting improvement in the patient's performance on verb production when comparing active rTMS to sham rTMS or baseline. These studies have contributed valuable insights into the potential use of rTMS in treating the language symptoms of PPA patients.
This study will use a randomized controlled trial design to evaluate the effect of two evidence-based treatments for adults with mild Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). The aim of the study is to help us better understand the effects of speech language therapy on communication abilities in individuals with PPA. Participants with a diagnosis of PPA and their actively-engaged care partners will be involved in the study for 12 months. Each participant will receive a laptop equipped with the necessary applications and features for the study. Participants will receive 5 evaluations and 15 speech therapy sessions with a licensed speech therapist, as well as access to Communication Bridge, a personalized web application to practice home exercises that reinforce treatment strategies. There are no costs to participate in this study.
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.