Identifying early retinal markers of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a leading cause of early onset dementia. It is crucial to identify individuals who are in the early, pre-symptomatic stages of FTD, particularly as treatments are now being developed for neurodegenerative disorders. Imaging of the eye has emerged as an important area of research in neurodegenerative disease. The aim of this project is to determine whether there are early retinal changes, in retinal thickness and perfusion, as measured with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography, in pre-symptomatic members of a large Auckland family with FTD caused by a genetic mutation. This project also seeks to assess the correlation between ophthalmic and neurological findings, and the potential role of retinal changes as biomarkers of early FTD.