The AI-Mind consortium is pleased to announce that its study recently started.

This clinical study is a key part of the AI-Mind project and will help develop and validate artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools to predict who is likely to develop dementia. The AI-Mind Connector will identify dysfunctional brain networks in an automated manner, and the AI-Mind Predictor will assess dementia risk using data from the Connector, enriched with information collected through advanced cognitive tests, and genetic biomarkers.

The first participant was included in January 2022. The AI-Mind study currently has 120 participants who have consented to participate (as of 4 March 2022) and aims to enrol 1,000 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), aged between 60 and 80 years, in five European clinical centres:

• Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Madrid, Spain)
•  Helsinki University Hospital (HUS, Helsinki, Finland)
• Oslo University Hospital (OUS, Oslo, Norway)
• The Catholic University of Sacred Heart (UCSC, Roma, Italy)
• San Raffaele Roma (IRCCS, Roma, Italy).

MCI is considered a major risk factor for the development of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. Early risk signs include functional brain network disturbances as an expression of synaptic dysfunction. This dysfunction can be studied through electrophysiological (EEG) brain signals. The AI-Mind study protocol includes EEG recording to measure brain activity, digitalised cognitive testing (CANTAB) about memory, thinking and language as well as blood sampling and interview with clinical staff during the first appointment. People interested in the study can learn more about it from dedicated sections on the AI-Mind website, also available in Norwegian, Italian, Spanish and Finnish as well as watch an explanatory video developed to inform potential participants about the AI-Mind study procedures.

With the goal to distinguish people at risk and not at risk of dementia in a group of mild cognitive impairment subjects, the AI-based platform with both tools, AI-Mind Connector and AI-Mind Predictor, will be tested and validated in the above European clinical center.