Stanford researchers' ARC score measures Alzheimer's vulnerability using resting fMRI
Stanford researchers have found that looking at resting brain activity with fMRI scans can reveal early signs of Alzheimer's, even before memory problems begin.
By comparing people with Alzheimer's to "SuperAgers" (older adults with sharp memories), they created a new ARC score that measures how resilient or vulnerable your brain might be to future memory loss.
ARC predicted decline in 1,315 adults
The ARC score was tested on 1,315 healthy adults and could actually predict who'd start having memory issues down the line, doing better than older methods.
People whose brains looked more "Alzheimer's-like" declined faster and had more amyloid buildup.
Study's lead author Kanhao Zhao says bigger, more diverse studies are needed, but if this holds up, it could help researchers recruit people at higher risk into Alzheimer's prevention trials before memory problems begin.