principal

Clinical results have shown that older brains whose artificial intelligence (AI) predicted age is higher than their actual age are 150% more likely to suffer from dementia.

On the 15th, the team led by Professor Chang-Hyung Hong, Sang-Jun Son and Hyun-Woong Noh of the Department of Psychiatry of Ajou University Hospital conducted a joint study with Professor Howard Aizenstein (Professor Helmet Karim) of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Samsung Seoul Hospital, Inha University Hospital, Pusan ​​​​​​National University Hospital and Chonnam National University Hospital. It was revealed that dementia in the “old brain” could be predicted.

The research team analyzed brain age by analyzing brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 650 Koreans obtained through the Korea Human Resources Bank project chronic cerebrovascular disease biobank with artificial intelligence.

Consequently, the age predicted by the artificial intelligence appears higher than the actual one, i.e., in the case of the “old brain”, the probability of developing dementia after 2 years is approximately 150% higher than that of the brain without it .

This is a very high level compared to 22% on the Cognitive Decline Prediction Questionnaire, which is currently widely used for early detection of dementia, and 57% on the MRI temporal lobe visual measurement.

Furthermore, if the predicted age was higher, the probability of being positive for amyloid, which is a pathological finding of Alzheimer’s dementia, which accounts for about 70% of the causes of dementia, was about 25% higher.

It has been confirmed that if the difference between the brain age predicted by artificial intelligence obtained through brain image analysis and the actual age is large, there is a high possibility of developing dementia in the future.

The AI ​​model used this time was developed through the joint research of Prof. Sangjun Sang and Prof. Aizenstein Karim (Geriatric Psychiatry Neuroimage Lab).

If the AI ​​model predicts people to be older than they actually are, even if they don’t have dementia yet, if they already show the volume change pattern of a degenerative brain disease, it is very likely that they will progress to dementia.

Elderly dementia due to aging has emerged as a major social problem worldwide, but the development of drugs or non-drug methods showing obvious effects is still some way off.

Before the onset of dementia, risk factors such as physical illness, lifestyle correction, and early cognitive decline are focused on drug treatment.

However, it is emphasized that dementia screening tests have limitations in screening for various socio-demographic factors related to dementia and the complex factors causing dementia.

Professor Sang-Joon Sang said: ‘It is significant that we have confirmed the possibility of early prediction of dementia progression through brain image analysis through artificial intelligence. I hope it will help open up the market,’ he said.

The results of this study were published in the international journal “Molecular Psychiatry” (IF=13,437) in August.

The research was conducted with the support of the Brain Disease Convergence Research Center (Center Director, Professor Park Sang-myeon of Ajou University) and Research-Oriented Hospital (Research Director, Professor Hong Chang-hyung of Hospital of the University of Ajou).