Dementia Prediction Using Neural Network Features

In many neurodegenerative conditions, changes in the brain occur before symptoms arise. But now, researchers in Japan have found a new way to distinguish these conditions in their early stages based on changes in patterns of brain activity. In a recently published study in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disordersresearchers at the University of Tsukuba revealed changes in the brain’s neural network that could function as a biomarker for degenerative neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia – abnormal protein deposits in the brain. Mild cognitive impairment may be an early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, small cerebrovascular disease, Lewy body dementia, or other neurocognitive disorders. As the clinical course of the disease and treatment options vary among these conditions, there is a need to discriminate between them in their early stages, which the University of Tsukuba researchers sought to address.