MRI-based whole-brain elastography and volumetric measurements to predict brain age
Date
2024-11-20
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Biology Methods and Protocols
Abstract
Brain age, as a correlate of an individual’s chronological age obtained from structural and functional neuroimaging data, enables assessing developmental or neurodegenerative pathology relative to the overall population. Accurately inferring brain age from brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data requires imaging methods sensitive to tissue health and sophisticated statistical models to identify the underlying age-related brain changes. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a specialized MRI technique which has emerged as a reliable, non-invasive method to measure the brain’s mechanical properties, such as the viscoelastic shear stiffness and damping ratio. These mechanical properties have been shown to change across the life span, reflect neurodegenerative diseases, and are associated with individual differences in cognitive function. Here, we aim to develop a machine learning framework to accurately predict a healthy individual’s chronological age from maps of brain mechanical properties. This framework can later be applied to understand neurostructural deviations from normal in individuals with neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative conditions. Using 3D convolutional networks as deep learning models and more traditional statistical models, we relate chronological age as a function of multiple modalities of whole-brain measurements: stiffness, damping ratio, and volume. Evaluations on held-out subjects show that combining stiffness and volume in a multimodal approach achieves the most accurate predictions. Interpretation of the different models highlights important regions that are distinct between the modalities. The results demonstrate the complementary value of MRE measurements in brain age models, which, in future studies, could improve model sensitivity to brain integrity differences in individuals with neuropathology.
Description
This article was originally published in Biology Methods and Protocols Published by Oxford University Press.. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/biomethods/bpae086.
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press.
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This research was featured in UDaily on 03/25/2025 at: https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/march/brain-stiffness-age-dementia-alzheimers-curtis-johnson-austin-brockmeier/
Keywords
convolutional neural networks, deep learning, elastography, magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging, neuroscience
Citation
Claros-Olivares, Claudio Cesar, Rebecca G Clements, Grace McIlvain, Curtis L Johnson, and Austin J Brockmeier. “MRI-Based Whole-Brain Elastography and Volumetric Measurements to Predict Brain Age.” Biology Methods and Protocols 10, no. 1 (January 1, 2025): bpae086. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomethods/bpae086.