Certainly, there are factors that predispose some people to dementia, but they do not allow us to correctly anticipate this condition. A completely new neurobiological model could change this in the future. Thanks to this model, simple fMRI scans will make it possible to predict dementia almost a decade earlier.
Accuracy of over 80%
Dementia is a disease that gets worse over time. This means that it is particularly important to be able to diagnose it as early as possible, as this can allow you to take all necessary precautions to slow the progression of the disease. The ideal would even be to be able to predict the disease before the patient actually suffers from dementia. According to a study carried out by researchers from Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, and Monash University, Australia, this could be possible with simple brain scans.
Indeed, according to the results of their study published in the journal Nature Mental Health, an analysis of brain activity at rest could help predict dementia, with an accuracy rate of 82%. To reach this conclusion, the researchers developed a neurobiological model powered by artificial intelligence that would serve as a predictive test for dementia. This model was developed by analyzing more than 1,000 fMRI scans of the brain – from the UK Biobank archives – to detect changes in the brain’s default mode network.
This network connects regions of the brain to ensure various specific cognitive functions. It is also the first neural network to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia. Note that among the study participants, 81 only developed dementia after the UK Biobank analysis. Using their model, the team was able to detect warning signs of dementia in the brains of certain patients, up to nine years in advance.
A simple and effective method
In cases where patients had already developed dementia, the model was also able to predict – with a margin of error of two years – how long it would take for a diagnosis to actually be made. Finally, the study also confirmed that changes in brain connectivity were also associated with known risk factors, including genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and social isolation. Faced with these very promising results, scientists believe that in the future, a simple 10-minute brain scan could make it possible to predict dementia.
Even more precise results could be obtained if this method were used in conjunction with recently developed blood tests to identify brain proteins responsible for Alzheimer’s disease. For the moment, the neurobiological model cannot yet be used in the clinical setting. The results obtained in this study will indeed need to be confirmed by a larger cohort before this is possible. Either way, this new method of predicting dementia has a lot of potential, and it could change the lives of many patients.
To go further, discover the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia.
