BOSTON: Researchers say they have discovered how a common gene mutation causes the brain damage associated with dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—better known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease—and are experimenting with a molecular therapy to address the problem.
The research shows that the most common known risk factor for ALS and frontotemporal dementia, or FTD—a gene mutation known as C9orf72—causes cellular highways to jam, impairing brain functions.