Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
They hope that the discovery will be able to find out more about the mecanisms behind the disease, potentially being able to find better treatment.
Scientists have identified a subtle brain signal that could help forecast whether people with mild memory problems will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
The discovery points to a possible new way of detecting the illness earlier, using noninvasive brain monitoring.
The research focuses on electrical patterns produced by neurons and how those signals change years before a formal diagnosis. While the work is still at an early stage, experts say it could eventually reshape how doctors track cognitive decline.
A new signal
Researchers at Brown University analyzed brain activity from people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, a condition that can precede Alzheimer’s disease. Using advanced computational tools, they found a pattern that reliably distinguished those who later developed Alzheimer’s within about two and a half years.
“We’ve detected a pattern in electrical signals of brain activity that predicts which patients are most likely to develop the disease within two and a half years,” said Stephanie Jones, a neuroscience professor at Brown’s Carney Institute for Brain Science.
The findings were published in the journal Imaging Neuroscience.
Tracking brain waves
The team worked with scientists at the Complutense University of Madrid to study brain recordings from 85 patients. The data were collected using magnetoencephalography, or MEG, which measures brain activity while participants rest quietly with their eyes closed.
A custom-built tool developed at Brown allowed researchers to isolate brief bursts of neural activity, rather than averaging signals together. This approach revealed changes in beta-frequency brain activity linked to memory processing.
“Two and a half years prior to their Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, patients were producing beta events at a lower rate, shorter in duration and at a weaker power,” said Danylyna Shpakivska, the study’s first author.
Looking ahead
Current tests often rely on spinal fluid or blood markers linked to toxic proteins. A brain-based biomarker could offer a more direct picture of how neurons are affected, researchers said.
“The signal we’ve discovered can aid early detection,” Jones said.
The project was supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and funding agencies in Spain, with further studies already planned.
Sources: Brown University, Imaging Neuroscience, National Institutes of Health
