# Robust detection of atrophy over short intervals in AD and FTLD

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2024 · $834,693

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration, and other diseases that lead to dementia are one of
the 21st century’s major public health problems. This family of neurodegenerative diseases involves the
disruption of functional brain circuits and ultimately the death of brain cells. In living people, the standard
measure of neurodegeneration is derived from brain MRI scans, which can quantitatively measure the location
and amount of atrophy. This is traditionally done, and continues to be done in many studies, over intervals of
one year, with one or two scans collected one year apart, estimating annualized rates of brain atrophy. In some
clinical trials, scans may be collected more frequently, but in one recent failed phase III trial aiming to slow
neurodegeneration they were collected 80 weeks apart. The goal of this work is to demonstrate that new
methods we and our colleagues have developed are able to improve the sensitivity to detect atrophy within
individuals over short intervals of time, down to as little as 3 months. This is done by making a large number of
extremely fast, highly precise repeated measurements at each time point for each individual. We aim to
demonstrate the reliability and validity of these new MRI measures of neurodegeneration against traditional
MRI measures and externally validated against PET and clinical measures in individuals with Early-onset
Alzheimer’s disease or behavioral variant Frontotemporal Dementia. If successful, this work could revolutionize
the field and open the door to a new means to track neurodegeneration, potentially greatly facilitating clinical
trials.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10837804
- **Project number:** 5R01AG081249-02
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** BRADFORD C DICKERSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $834,693
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-05-15 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10837804

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10837804, Robust detection of atrophy over short intervals in AD and FTLD (5R01AG081249-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10837804. Licensed CC0.

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