Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a brand new synthetic intelligence (AI) software that helps clinicians establish mind exercise patterns linked to 9 sorts of dementia, together with Alzheimer’s illness, utilizing a single, broadly accessible scan—a transformative advance in early, correct analysis.
The software, StateViewer, helped researchers establish the dementia kind in 88% of circumstances, based on analysis revealed on-line on June 27, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. It additionally enabled clinicians to interpret mind scans practically twice as quick and with as much as thrice better accuracy than customary workflows. Researchers educated and examined the AI on greater than 3,600 scans, together with pictures from sufferers with dementia and other people with out cognitive impairment.
This innovation addresses a core problem in dementia care: figuring out the illness early and exactly, even when a number of circumstances are current. As new therapies emerge, well timed analysis helps match sufferers with probably the most applicable care when it will possibly have the best impression. The software might convey superior diagnostic help to clinics that lack neurology experience.
The rising toll of dementia
Dementia impacts greater than 55 million individuals worldwide, with practically 10 million new circumstances every year. Alzheimer’s illness, the commonest kind, is now the fifth-leading reason for loss of life globally. Diagnosing dementia sometimes requires cognitive checks, blood attracts, imaging, scientific interviews and specialist referrals. Even with in depth testing, distinguishing circumstances equivalent to Alzheimer’s, Lewy physique dementia and frontotemporal dementia stays difficult, together with for extremely skilled specialists.
StateViewer was developed underneath the path of David Jones, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist and director of the Mayo Clinic Neurology Synthetic Intelligence Program.
“Each affected person who walks into my clinic carries a singular story formed by the mind’s complexity,” Dr. Jones says. “That complexity drew me to neurology and continues to drive my dedication to clearer solutions. StateViewer displays that dedication—a step towards earlier understanding, extra exact therapy and, at some point, altering the course of those ailments.”
To convey that imaginative and prescient to life, Dr. Jones labored alongside Leland Barnard, Ph.D., a knowledge scientist who leads the AI engineering behind StateViewer.
“As we had been designing StateViewer, we by no means overpassed the truth that behind each knowledge level and mind scan was an individual dealing with a tough analysis and pressing questions,” Dr. Barnard says. “Seeing how this software might help physicians with real-time, exact insights and steering highlights the potential of machine studying for scientific drugs.”
Turning mind patterns into scientific perception
The software analyzes a fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan, which exhibits how the mind makes use of glucose for power. It then compares the scan to a big database of scans from individuals with confirmed dementia diagnoses and identifies patterns that match particular varieties, or combos, of dementia.
Alzheimer’s sometimes impacts reminiscence and processing areas, Lewy physique dementia includes areas tied to consideration and motion, and frontotemporal dementia alters areas answerable for language and conduct. StateViewer shows these patterns by color-coded mind maps that spotlight key areas of mind exercise, giving all clinicians, even these with out neurology coaching, a visible clarification of what the AI sees and the way it helps the analysis.
Mayo Clinic researchers plan to develop the software’s use and can proceed evaluating its efficiency in quite a lot of scientific settings.
Extra data: Leland Barnard et al, An FDG-PET–Based mostly Machine Studying Framework to Assist Neurologic Choice-Making in Alzheimer Illness and Associated Problems, Neurology (2025). DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213831