Deep neural networks learn general and clinically relevant representations of the ageing brain.

Journal: NeuroImage
Published Date: Apr 21, 2022

Abstract

The discrepancy between chronological age and the apparent age of the brain based on neuroimaging data - the brain age delta - has emerged as a reliable marker of brain health. With an increasing wealth of data, approaches to tackle heterogeneity in data acquisition are vital. To this end, we compiled raw structural magnetic resonance images into one of the largest and most diverse datasets assembled (n=53542), and trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to predict age. We achieved state-of-the-art performance on unseen data from unknown scanners (n=2553), and showed that higher brain age delta is associated with diabetes, alcohol intake and smoking. Using transfer learning, the intermediate representations learned by our model complemented and partly outperformed brain age delta in predicting common brain disorders. Our work shows we can achieve generalizable and biologically plausible brain age predictions using CNNs trained on heterogeneous datasets, and transfer them to clinical use cases.

Authors

  • Esten H Leonardsen
    Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: estenhl@psykologi.uio.no.
  • Han Peng
    Donders Center for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
  • Tobias Kaufmann
    NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • Ingrid Agartz
    CoE NORMENT, KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • Ole A Andreassen
    NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: o.a.andreassen@medisin.uio.no.
  • Elisabeth Gulowsen Celius
    Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • Thomas Espeseth
    Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, Bjørknes University College, Oslo, Norway.
  • Hanne F Harbo
    Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • Einar A Høgestøl
    Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway.
  • Ann-Marie de Lange
    Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences-Department of Clinical Neurosciences, CHUV and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  • Andre F Marquand
    Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
  • Didac Vidal-Piñeiro
    Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • James M Roe
    Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • Geir Selbæk
    Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Aging and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
  • Øystein Sørensen
    Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • Stephen M Smith
    Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK.
  • Lars T Westlye
    CoE NORMENT, KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • Thomas Wolfers
    Donders Center for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: t.wolfers@donders.ru.nl.
  • Yunpeng Wang
    College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

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