NAKO+ILSE: Multimodal data fusion for the early detection of dementia

The aim of the AI Center for Health Care project NAKO+ILSE is to combine multimodal data from various studies to improve the prediction of the biological, immunological and cognitive age of individuals and to support the early detection of dementia.

This project aims to fuse multimodal data from different studies to improve the prediction of the biological, immunological and cognitive age of individuals and thus support the early diagnosis of dementia. To this end, data from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adulthood and Aging (ILSE) will be analyzed and combined with new data from the German National Cohort (NAKO Gesundheitsstudie/NAKO). In the future, we envision to include up to 200,000 NAKO participants.

The fusion will be achieved by analyzing communication skills from biographical interviews and brain imaging using (f)MRI. The ILSE study has collected extensive data from 1,000 volunteers over 20 years, including biographical interviews, blood samples and MRI scans. The NAKO study covers a younger age group and also includes blood samples, but no interviews or MRI scans. As part of the project, 500 volunteers from the Bremen NAKO group will undergo biographical interviews and MRI scans. AI methods will be used to fuse this data and create a valuable database of early dementia indicators. This comprehensive database will assess mental and physical health throughout adulthood.

For patients, this means a potentially earlier diagnosis of dementia, even before the onset of clinical symptoms. This enables early treatment and prevention. The combination of MRI imaging and speech communication analysis creates a powerful tool for recognizing known and new patterns. The methods developed can also be applied to other studies and promote research in the field of healthy ageing.

The project, supported by the University of Heidelberg and the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology BIPS in Bremen, expands the age spectrum of studies and creates a new, comprehensive database that represents a treasure trove for research into neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.