Surreal-GAN identifies five dimensions of brain aging. Credit: Natural medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03144-x
Using a large-scale brain imaging study, an international research team has identified five patterns of age-related degeneration in older adults suffering from mental decline. In their study, published in the journal Natural medicineThe team conducted a multi-year study of thousands of MRI scans using machine learning applications to find patterns of brain degeneration as people age.
Previous research has shown that as people age, they experience changes in almost every part of their body, including their brains, although these differences can vary widely from person to person. These changes are difficult to spot on MRI scans, at least with the naked eye.
For the new study, the research team used a machine learning application to spot age-related brain degeneration in 8,992 older adults who had at least one brain MRI scan over an eight-year period. MRI scans from more than 1,100 younger adults and other older adults not suffering from mental decline were also included.
The resulting images were used to teach the system what the brain looks like as it ages. The team then applied the model to 49,482 MRI scans of people who had been examined for various reasons related to their neural health.
The model identified five main patterns of brain atrophy. The researchers also found that multiple causes could be linked to one or more of these patterns. Dementia, for example, could be seen in three of these patterns. The same is true for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The team also found associations between certain behaviors and brain degeneration, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, that appear to correlate with indicators of general health. In addition, they found patterns that could be linked to mortality and/or risk of future degeneration.
The researchers stress that their study does not suggest that everything about brain degeneration can be reduced to one or more of the five models. They note that more research is needed to learn more about these models before they can be used in a meaningful way.
More information:
Zhijian Yang et al., Patterns of brain aging in a large and diverse cohort of 49,482 individuals, Natural medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03144-x
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