Source: news.uthsc.edu | Repost Duerson Fund 3/6/2023 –
Repeated traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in soldiers and military personnel can cause behavioral, neurological, and cognitive effects and lead to dementia. There is currently no treatment for that type of dementia, but a $308,000 grant from the United States Department of Defense aims to help researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center find one.
TBI can lead to the development of frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), a progressive process marked by atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes. FTD is one of the most common causes of dementia in people under the age of 65.
Principal investigator Mohammad Moshahid Khan, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Neurology, and co-investigator Tayebeh Pourmotabbed, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Biochemistry, are working on a project to find the first therapeutic intervention to prevent frontotemporal dementia or slow its progression in a mouse model linked with the condition.