The idea of forgetting a loved one's name or struggling to remember your own life story is worrying for anyone, but more than 6 million Americans struggle with the effects of dementia every day.
Dementia itself is not a disorder as such but a broader term that describes symptoms of cognitive decline like memory loss, trouble thinking, and behavioral changes caused by neurodegenerative disease. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's, but it can be caused by strokes that occlude blood flow to the brain, and other, rarer conditions.
Dementia is pretty different from what most people see as a ‘mental disorder,’ while the visible effects, like memory loss and cognitive decline, cause psychological distress, the underlying issue is neurological. We don't know exactly what causes Alzheimer’s with dementia; however, researchers believe it is a combination of factors, like age-related brain changes, genetic predispositions and certain gene variants, cardiovascular conditions (like hypertension and diabetes), lifestyle choices, environmental exposures, and neuroinflammation.
In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), i.e., AD with dementia, is defined by a gradual decline in cognitive function, marked by:
Onset is usually somewhere between 50 and 70, with 5-10% of people over 70 diagnosed and 25% of those over 80.
The first signs of dementia can be hard to recognise and difficult to diagnose; however, if you can spot it early, the chances of treatment for Alzheimer's – and most neurodegenerative diseases, for that matter are drastically improved.
Up until now, diagnosis has largely relied on noticeable symptoms and cognitive testing, often missing the disease’s earliest stages and putting pressure on healthcare workers to constantly look out for symptoms that have a whole host of potential causes. Even experienced doctors or nurses who have gone through the best DNP programs online need help to diagnose dementia.
Luckily, research is rapidly advancing in biomarker detection, brain imaging, and genetic profiling. These tools aim to identify changes in the brain years before symptoms emerge, offering hope for earlier, more effective, and accurate interventions.One study has taken a new approach, harnessing the power of AI to help detect and treat dementia. The article, published here, reviewed all (or close to all) of the research published to date around alzheimer's, dementia, treatment, machine learning, cognitive interventions, and other related key terms.
The study initially describes the worrying rise in young-onset dementia (YOD), highlighting just how important it is to find new tools and treatments. The analysis of current research found that AI achieves up to 99% accuracy in MRI-based AD diagnosis and 94% in speech analysis, using something called convolutional neural networks and digital biomarkers. Of course, this drastically outperforms traditional tests and even the most expert MRI interpreters, improving sensitivity by 4% and reducing diagnostic costs significantly.
Predictive AI models can (and are) also be used to optimize drug efficacy and clinical trial design, with speech-based screening enhancing mild cognitive impairment detection by 8.5% and reducing PET scan (a neuroimaging technique similar to MRI) needs by 35%.
We can clearly see from this just how effective AI can be in the field of neuroimaging, but we simply can't get everyone over 50 to take an expensive and time-consuming MRI or PET scan. How can AI help? Well, patient data, with consent of course, can be used to predict predisposition to dementia and prioritize those who are a high risk for a brain scan.
In broader diagnostics, AI is already being used to integrate patient data, wearable technology, genetic profiles, and more to detect and help to diagnose those at risk. Of course, the idea of AI having access to highly sensitive health records poses some real questions about security and ethics, but that's a whole issue in and of itself.
At the moment, AI screening for dementia is cutting-edge stuff, so it will take time before the complex systems are rolled out en masse – but they are incredibly scalable. The accuracy of MRI analysis, the ability to optimize clinical trials, and risk profile on a person-to-person basis are tools we can harness to improve health for all.
At the end of the day, AI is a tool that we can harness and use, just like the internet, to improve health. This study is just one example of a much broader field that needs researchers, doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and everyone in between.
