Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease impacting 50% of people with dementia under the age of 60. A core feature of FTD is a deficit in social cognition. The salience network, a functionally connected assembly of brain regions including the anterior insula (aINS) and anterior cingulate, is impacted by FTD. The Genetic FTD Initiative (GENFI) participants (n=949, females=520, males=429, mean age=48.75 +/- 14 years) includes patients and family members with FTD-associated pathogenic mutations. Baseline analyses showed lower volume of the aINS and lower social cognitive functioning in symptomatic mutation carriers compared to both presymptomatic and healthy controls. In FTD patients, aINS volume was correlated with social cognition scores (r=0.36, p<0.01). Future research mapping the longitudinal relationship between social cognition and the salience network may provide novel insights into FTD onset and progression to expand treatment windows for improved intervention outcomes.