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Brain Networks for Alzheimer Diagnosis

http://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=109496

http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/9/chp%253A10.1007%252F978-3-319-23344-4_29.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Fchapter%2F10.1007%2F978-3-319-23344-4_29&token2=exp=1442031434~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F9%2Fchp%25253A10.1007%25252F978-3-319-23344-4_29.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Fchapter%252F10.1007%252F978-3-319-23344-4_29*~hmac=3f260bfaa60b2a3aa8d9722ed2fe24d55a96e2edfb9819fb4314a4d72fd0e854

I spent this past summer writing code for a professor’s brain visualization research project. The project initiated when a neurologist at the professor’s institution needed a visualization tool that he could use to distinguish a healthy brain from a brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease. He aims to identify certain “biomarkers” unique to brains afflicted by Alzheimer’s in a brain’s connection network.

The project I worked on over the summer is still progress, but related research has yielded strong evidence that the behavior of brain networks can serve as a valid biomarker of an Alzherimer-afflicted brain. Such networks are largely generated from two forms of imaging data: diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging. DTI data provides information regarding the flow of water in brain tissues. Significant water flow in a certain direction is interpreted as an instance of communication. Functional MRI provides information about a brain’s activity, and locations of high activity are denoted as region’s of interests (ROI), each of which serve different functions in the brain. In the building of a connection network, the ROI’s are the nodes, and the water tensors are used to generate “fiber tracks”, which serve as the edges connecting the ROI’s.

Studying which connections are present and are not present in the brain of an Alzheimer patient can lead to improved and earlier diagnosis, as shown in the study referenced in the first link. The use of brain networks to identify biomarkers is a powerful tool that can be expanded beyond application to Alzheimer’s, and can potentially be used for other brain diseases as well.

 

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