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MicroRNA-124 modulates social behavior in frontotemporal dementia

Nature Medicine volume 20, pages 1381–1383 (2014)Cite this article

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Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes social dysfunction and other symptoms. A new study suggests that social dysfunction in FTD is due to decreased microRNA-124 expression and resulting changes in glutamate receptor composition in the prefrontal cortex.

FTD is a leading cause of neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer's disease. It is caused by dysfunction and degeneration of neuronal networks in the frontal and temporal lobes as well as subcortical regions. FTD includes several distinct clinical syndromes, the most common of which is behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), in which patients develop social withdrawal, apathy and inappropriate, disinhibited and repetitive behavior1. FTD typically begins around age 60 and progresses to complete disability, with death after a median of 8–9 years2. To date there are no effective treatments.

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Figure 1: FTD is associated with deficits in social behavior.

Katie Vicari/Nature Publishing Group

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurology and Neurobiology, Andrew E. Arrant and Erik D. Roberson are at the Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.,

    Andrew E Arrant & Erik D Roberson

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  1. Andrew E Arrant
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  2. Erik D Roberson
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Correspondence to Erik D Roberson.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Arrant, A., Roberson, E. MicroRNA-124 modulates social behavior in frontotemporal dementia. Nat Med 20, 1381–1383 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3768

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