Combined imaging markers dissociate Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration - an ALE meta-analysis

To compare and dissociate the neural correlates of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), we combine and synthesize here recent comprehensive meta-analyses. Systematic and quantitative meta-analyses were conducted according to the QUOROM statement by calculating anatomical likelihood estimates (ALE). AD (n = 578) and the three subtypes of FTLD, frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia (SD), and progressive non-fluent aphasia (n = 229), were compared in conjunction analyses, separately for atrophy and reductions in glucose metabolism. Atrophy coincided in the amygdala and hippocampal head in AD and the FTLD subtype SD. The other brain regions did not show any overlap between AD and FTLD subtypes for both atrophy and changes in glucose metabolism. For AD alone (n = 826), another conjunction analysis revealed a regional dissociation between atrophy and hypoperfusion/hypometabolism, whereby hypoperfusion and hypometabolism coincided in the angular/supramarginal gyrus and inferior precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus. Our data together with other imaging studies suggest a specific dissociation of AD and FTLD if, beside atrophy, additional imaging markers in AD such as abnormally low parietal glucose utilization and perfusion are taken into account. Results support the incorporation of standardized imaging inclusion criteria into future diagnostic systems, which is crucial for early individual diagnosis and treatment in the future.