The research breakthrough uses machine learning technology to look at structural features within the brain, including in regions not previously associated with Alzheimer’s. The advantage of the technique is its simplicity and the fact that it can identify the disease at when it can be very difficult to diagnose.
Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, getting a diagnosis quickly at an early stage helps patients. It allows them to access help and support, get treatment to manage their symptoms and plan for the future. Being able to accurately identify patients at an early stage of the disease will also help researchers to understand the brain changes that trigger the disease, and support development and trials of new treatments.
The research was published today (June 20, 2022) in the Nature Portfolio Journal, Communications Medicine, and funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NI HR) Imperial Biomedical Research Center.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting over half a million people in the UK. Although most people with Alzheimer’s disease develop it after the age of 65, people under this age can develop it too. The most frequent symptoms of dementia are memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving and language.
Unexpected outcomes trigger the release of noradrenaline, which helps the brain focus its attention and learn from the event.
When your brain needs you to pay attention to something important, one way it can do that is to send out a burst of noradrenaline, according to a new MIT study.
This neuromodulator, produced by a structure deep in the brain called the can have widespread effects throughout the brain. In a study of mice, the MIT team found that one key role of noradrenaline, also known as norepinephrine, is to help the brain learn from surprising outcomes.
Norepinephrine, also called noradrenaline, is a chemical made by some nerve cells and in the adrenal gland. It can function as both a neurotransmitter (a chemical messenger used by nerve cells) and a hormone (a chemical that travels in the blood and controls the actions of other cells or organs). Norepinephrine is released by the adrenal gland in response to stress and low blood pressure.
“What this work shows is that the locus encodes unexpected events, and paying attention to those surprising events is crucial for the brain to take stock of its environment,” says the Newton Professor of Neuroscience in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, a member of MIT’s Pi cower Institute for Learning and Memory, and director of the Simone Center for the Social Brain.
A new research breakthrough uses machine learning technology to look at structural features within the brain, including in regions not previously associated with Alzheimer’s. The advantage of the technique is its simplicity and the fact that it can identify the disease at an early stage, when it can be very difficult to diagnose.
Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, getting a diagnosis quickly at an early stage helps patients. It allows them to access help and support, get treatment to manage their symptoms and plan for the future. Being able to accurately identify patients at an early stage of the disease will also help researchers to understand the brain changes that trigger the disease, and support development and trials of new treatments.
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