An artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by scientists from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), in collaboration with an expert from the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) has managed to predict the time it will take for a patient with mild cognitive impairment to evolve. towards dementia. The study results indicate that a few neuropsychological tests can effectively capture the progression towards dementia, eliminating the need for additional clinical tests, facilitating the integration of this technology into clinical practice.
Mild cognitive impairment can progress to dementia within the first four years, especially in those patients in whom the presence of amyloid pathology is already detected. This pathology consists of the accumulation of abnormal proteins called amyloids, which form deposits in the brain and interfere with its normal functioning. According to recent studies, artificial intelligence plays a fundamental role in the diagnosis and prognosis in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
Differentiate Alzheimer’s from other types of dementia
Researchers have highlighted the importance of performing tests that detect the presence of amyloid and tau pathologies at the beginning of the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. Although the transition from mild cognitive impairment to dementia can take more than a decade, approximately 30% of affected people develop dementia within the first four years. It has been noted that about 80% of these rapidly progressing individuals already had amyloid pathology at the time of initial diagnosis.
Currently, disease progression models are being developed using artificial intelligence techniques. These models not only improve the diagnosis and prognosis of patients, but also allow us to validate hypotheses about the temporal evolution of diseases. In addition, they facilitate the analysis of whether a marker is capable of tracking the disease. These algorithms use longitudinal patient data to estimate how symptoms and pathologies evolve over time.
“Evaluations supported by artificial intelligence significantly improve clinical diagnosis and monitoring of patient progress in the following years”
The results of the study have been published in Current Alzheimer Research and show that patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and who present amyloid pathology from the start tend to progress towards dementia at a faster rate compared to those who show no evidence of this. pathology.
“Evaluations supported by artificial intelligence significantly improve clinical diagnosis and monitoring of patient evolution in the following years, as well as the ability to distinguish between Alzheimer’s type dementia and other types,” concludes Carlos Platero, researcher at the UPM who has been part of the team.
Source: Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM)
