Al system can predict Alzheimer’s:

Al system can predict Alzheimer’s:

Context

The news is regarding the development of an artificial intelligence system that can accurately identify signs of Alzheimer’s disease almost 10 years before the clinical symptoms appear.

About the research and its results

• Researchers have developed a machine-learning algorithm to discern structural changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s disease.
• Using MRI scans, the system detected early signs with 84 per cent accuracy by identifying changes in how regions of the brain are connected.
• The idea was to teach the algorithm to correctly classify and discriminate between diseased and healthy brains.
• The system distinguished between a healthy brain and one with Alzheimer’s with an accuracy of 86 per cent.
• It could tell the difference between a healthy brain and that with MCI with an accuracy of 84 per cent. This shows that the algorithm could identify changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimers almost a decade before clinical symptoms appear.
• Nowadays, cerebrospinal fluid analyses and brain imaging using radioactive tracers can tell us to what extent the brain is covered with plaques and tangles, and are able to predict relatively accurately who is at high risk of developing Alzheimers 10 years later.