Predicting signs of cognitive decline can be essential for early treatment, which exponentially increases the patient's chances of having more quality of life and comfort. Thanks to artificial intelligence, this task will be easier. A study developed by the University of Southern California resulted in a tool capable of comparing thousands of brains in a database and draw parallels that indicate the relative age of this organ.
See more about the new AI-powered calculator.
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Is it possible to find out your brain age
Neurodegenerative diseases are usually investigated when people manifest some degree of cognitive decline. Elderly people feel more the effect of these illnesses, however they began to manifest themselves silently many years after the onset of symptoms.
For this reason, investigating brain patterns that indicate injuries or some degree of degeneration is essential to understand more about the onset of neurological diseases.
Is this tool capable of diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases?
Artificial intelligence is a helping tool. That way, she will not perform the diagnosis of a disease neurodegenerative, such as Alzheimer's, but will be associated with others that are used in research to promote a clearer result and understand how and when the disease began to manifest itself.
How does brain aging occur?
Each organism has its particularities.
Therefore, it is not possible to establish a single and immutable pattern for brain aging. It occurs in different ways and depends on genetic and environmental factors. For this reason, it is not so rarely possible to find 30-year-old brains similar to those of 60-year-olds, but the opposite also happens.
How does the tool work?
She received MRI images of several brains that were cognitively normal and brains with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. From this, a database composed of 4,681 volunteers was created. Parallels were drawn between the brains and, with that, it was possible to predict similarities between those of similar ages.
What is the result of the study?
When comparing brain ages with chronological age, it was noticed that the greater the difference between them, the worse the patient's cognitive state. As a consequence, he is more likely to develop dementia.
