Why people with frontotemporal dementia lose empathy
Official title: Neural Mechanisms of Empathy Loss in Frontotemporal Dementia
Funded at Upstate Medical University · NIH-11323502 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at whether problems in a brain area called the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex cause people with behavioral frontotemporal dementia to lose empathy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Upstate Medical University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Syracuse, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $653,761 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG087537-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11323502 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people diagnosed with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, particularly those with known C9orf72 expansions or early-stage empathy and social behavior changes.
✕Less likely to help
People with other dementia types (for example typical Alzheimer’s disease), those without bvFTD symptoms, or those with very advanced disease are less likely to benefit directly from this work.
What this research studies
You will hear about work using a genetic mouse model that carries the same C9orf72 change seen in many familial FTD cases to recreate empathy loss and study brain cell function. Scientists will measure how excitable pyramidal neurons are in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and test ways to restore that excitability. The team will link those mouse findings to the biology of human bvFTD, including the common genetic forms of the disease. The goal is to identify a brain circuit and target that could guide future treatments for empathy and social behavior problems in bvFTD.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could point to a specific brain circuit to target for treatments that restore empathy and social function in people with behavioral FTD.
How similar studies have gone: Prior animal work by the investigators showed that restoring dmPFC neuron excitability reversed empathy-like deficits in aged C9orf72 mice, but translating this to human patients has not yet been established.
Where this research is happening
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Upstate Medical University
Syracuse, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yao, Wei-Dong — Upstate Medical University
- Study coordinator: Yao, Wei-Dong
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.