Amusia as an early manifestation of frontotemporal dementia caused by a novel progranulin mutation

Perception of music is a complex ability requiring participation of multiple brain areas, with a different manner of processing between musicians and non musicians [5, 7]. Acquired amusia has been described associated with focal cortical degeneration, particularly within the cognitive and behavioural manifestations of frontotemporal dementia [1, 3, 6]. We report herein a family with frontotemporal dementia caused by a novel progranulin gene mutation whose proband presented with impaired musical appreciation as an early symptom of the disease.