VAPB and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis type 8: In 2004, a missense mutation in the VAPB gene (p.P56S) was discovered to be the cause of a dominantly inherited slowly progressing form of fALS (known as ALS8), as well as of typical rapidly progressing fALS and spinomuscular atrophy, in a large cohort of Brazilian families of Portuguese origin [10].