How Old Is Your Brain, Really? - Neuroscience News

Summary: Deep learning technology can accurately reflect a person's risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease based on brain age. The human brain holds many clues about a person's long-term health -- in fact, research shows that a person's brain age is a more useful and accurate predictor of health risks and future disease than their birthdate. Now, a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that analyzes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans developed by USC researchers could be used to accurately capture cognitive decline linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's much earlier than previous methods. Brain aging is considered a reliable biomarker for neurodegenerative disease risk. Such risk increases when a person's brain exhibits features that appear "older" than expected for someone of that person's age.