Early contributions to the understanding of Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration from Argentina

JOAQUÍN BARRUTA; JOHN HODGES; EZEQUIEL GLEICHGERRCHT; TERESA TORRALVA; MARÍA ÁNGELES POSE; AGUSTÍN IBÁÑEZ; FACUNDO MANES

Toronto

Encuentro; 62nd AAN 2010 Annual Meeting; 2010

American Academy of Neurology

OBJECTIVE: To introduce some fundamental works carried out in Argentina during the first half of the 20th century, by physicians Christfried Jakob and Braulio Moyano. BACKGROUND: Research in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD) has already reached over a hundred years of history. Through all these years, it has been called many different ways, and divided into various subtypes according to the differential prevalence of specific clinical manifestations. Despite the large volume of literature in the field of FTLD, a number of relevant contributions made from non-English speaking authors to the understanding of this disease have not received enough attention, which makes the history of FTLD research relatively incomplete. DESIGN/METHODS: We researched the original publications, case studies, and anatomopathological descriptions performed by Dr. Christfried Jakob and Braulio Moyano, who conducted their research in Argentina in the first half of the 20th century. RESULTS: Jakob's neurophilosophy, as well as his empirical and theoretical assessments on dementia and the frontal lobes are highlighted. Moyano's works on frontotemporal dementia, specifically concerning language deficits, are also introduced. Finally, these early contributions are examined in the context of the current knowledge on FTLD, highlighting some of the authors' early original contributions, as well as their misconceptions. CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: In spite of the fundamental relevance of these works, both authors remained largely unknown outside Latin America, probably due to the fact that their publications were not written in English, but made substantial contributions to some fundamental concepts of current FTLD research.