Effect of foot orthotics on running kinetics in adults with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A controlled laboratory study.

Motor Neuron Disease (MND) and Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD) are progressive neurodegenerative diseases, characterised by degeneration and death of neurons in often overlapping regions of the brain. FTD is an especially pernicious form of dementia due to its early onset, limited treatment options, and difficulty in diagnosis. Further, MND affects about 2,750 Australians in 2025, with numbers estimated to exceed 4,300 by 2050. In Australia, around two people diagnosed with MND die from the disease per day. Average survival is 27 months post-diagnosis, and the disease incurs enormous personal and societal cost, estimated at AUD 5.02 billion in 2025. People living with MND typically face a greater than 12-month delay between symptom onset and diagnosis. A key reason for this delay is the lack of reliable biomarkers sensitive to disease onset and progression. Current diagnostic practices rely heavily on subjective clinical assessments, which lack the sensitivity and objectivity necessary for timely and accurate diagnosis and are insufficient for precise tracking of disease progression. MND biomarker development (and in particular, imaging biomarkers) in patients is essential due to the limited replication of disease characteristics in animal models. While fronto-temporal lobar degeneration describes the broader underlying pathology that includes distinct protein-based neurodegenerative processes in the frontal and temporal lobes, FTD refers to the clinical syndrome, typically involving progressive behavioural, language, or executive dysfunction. Similarly, MND is an umbrella term that includes distinct clinical phenotypes such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS; combined upper and lower motor neuron degeneration), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS; pure upper motor neuron involvement), and progressive muscular atrophy (PMA; pure lower motor neuron involvement), each with differing prognoses and disease progression. An Australian cohort study has demonstrated significant differences in survival and diagnostic delays across these subtypes.