New study seeks to uncover links between ALS and dementia
NCT ID NCT03225144
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 18, 2026 · Updated 16 times
Summary
This study screens 360 adults with neurodegenerative disorders like ALS, frontotemporal dementia, and progressive supranuclear palsy. Researchers will use medical history, physical exams, memory tests, movement analysis, MRI scans, and other tests to find common features and differences. The goal is to better understand these diseases and identify people eligible for future research studies.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this study could help identify common features and risk factors for these brain diseases, pointing toward better diagnosis or future treatments.
- What could go wrong
- This is an observational screening study, not a treatment trial. It may not directly lead to new therapies, and results may take years to apply.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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About 360 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2017
- Expected to finish
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Oct 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A government research agency
The lead sponsor is the US National Institutes of Health.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
Adults with a diagnosis of ALS, FTD, or a related adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder
- Ages
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18 to 110 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
* INCLUSION CRITERIA: Patients will be included if they * Are age 18 or older * Have been given a diagnosis by a neurologist of frontotemporal dementia, primary progressive aphasia, semantic dementia, motor neuron disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, progressive bulbar palsy, corticobasal syndrome, Huntington disease or other related adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder OR * Carry a mutation in a gene that causes familial ALS or FTD EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Patients will be excluded if they * Have other major neurological or medical diseases that may cause progressive weakness or cognitive dysfunction, such as structural brain or spinal cord disease, metabolic diseases, paraneoplastic syndromes, infectious diseases, peripheral neuropathy or radiculopathy or other significant neurological abnormalities. * Have an unstable medical condition that, in the opinion of the investigators, makes participation unsafe * Require daytime ventilator support at the time of study entry * Are unable to travel to NIH * Patients with pacemakers or other implanted electrical devices, brain stimulators, dental implants, aneurysm clips (metal clips on the wall of a large artery), metallic prostheses (including metal pins and rods, heart valves, and cochlear implants), permanent eyeliner, implanted delivery pumps, or shrapnel fragments, metal fragments in the eye) will not be excluded but will not undergo magnetic resonance imaging. * Patients with tattoos above the neck or permanent make up will be excluded from undergoing 7T MRI.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
RECRUITINGBethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
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