Mayo Clinic Researchers Find Gene That Is Common Cause of ALS and Frontotemporal Dementia

North American investigators led by Dr. Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D. and other neuroscientists at Mayo Clinic in Florida have found a genetic abnormality they say is the most common cause of two different but related forms of neurodegenerative disease — frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.