A new artificial intelligence language-processing tool could potentially help detect cognitive impairment and mental degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, researchers at Boston University say. Their findings, which were published in The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, suggest that a machine-learning computational model could identify cognitive decline through audio recordings of neuropsychological tests. "It can form the basis of an online tool that could reach everyone and could increase the number of people who get screened early," said Ioannis Paschalidis, a professor of engineering and one of the researchers at Boston University, in a news release. The computational model, which does not require in-person assessments, could ultimately help clinicians triage the urgency of patients' symptoms more efficiently, allowing them to allocate resources without replacing follow-up processes for diagnosis, she said. Using automated speech recognition software, the program transcribes interviews and, by encoding them into numbers, detects patterns that assess the likelihood and severity of a patient's cognitive impairment.

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) A diagnosis system that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) for the rapid screening of dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been developed by an interdisciplinary research team led by a professor at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST). The electroencephalography (EEG)-based computer-aided diagnosis system, which integrates different technologies, including EEG signal processing, circuits and electronics, AI, cognitive neuroscience, and medical science, has demonstrated a high level of accuracy and usability in assisting AD and MCI diagnosis, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Wednesday. As a result, the system is also expected to facilitate early intervention and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's dementia. Liu Yi-hung (劉益宏), a professor at NTUST who has led the research team since 2017, collaborated with Tsai Chia-fen (蔡佳芬), a doctor in the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, and Wu Chien-te (吳建德), a professor at the International Research Center for Neurointelligence, University of Tokyo. They developed the nonlinearly multiple EEG feature decoding technique and identified the most MCI-sensitive brain areas by using machine learning methods.

A devastating chronic neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer's disease (AD) currently affects around 5.5 million people in the United States alone. Causing progressive mental deterioration, it ultimately advances to impact basic bodily functions such as walking and swallowing. Looking for a way to help, researchers at the University of Bari and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy have developed new machine learning AI technology that may help identify Alzheimer's a decade before doctors usually can, by way of non-invasive MRI brain scans. An early diagnosis -- before any of the symptoms a doctor might recognize become apparent -- could give patients a chance to make changes to their lifestyle which may slow Alzheimer's progression. "We used publicly available data, consisting of 67 brain MRI scans from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, including healthy controls and AD patients," Nicola Amoroso, one of the lead researchers on the project, told Digital Trends.

Early diagnosis can help patients make lifestyle changes which may help slow the progression of Alzheimer's. A devastating chronic neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer's disease (AD) currently affects around 5.5 million people in the United States alone. Causing progressive mental deterioration, it ultimately advances to impact basic bodily functions such as walking and swallowing. Looking for a way to help, researchers at the University of Bari and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy have developed new machine learning AI technology that may help identify Alzheimer's a decade before doctors usually can, by way of non-invasive MRI brain scans. An early diagnosis -- before any of the symptoms a doctor might recognize become apparent -- could give patients a chance to make changes to their lifestyle which may slow Alzheimer's progression.

NETHERLANDS -Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that allows computer programs to learn things when exposed to new data, without being reprogrammed. Now, researchers have matched machine learning methods with a special technique of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that measures blood perfusion (absorption rate of this tissue) throughout the brain to detect early forms of dementia. MRI can help diagnose Alzheimer's disease. However, early diagnosis is difficult. Scientists have long known that Alzheimer's disease is a gradual process and that the brain undergoes functional changes before the structural changes associated with the disease visually displayed on the test results.