Real-World Multimodal Machine Learning for Risk Enrichment Across the Alzheimer’s Disease Spectrum

<b>Background and Objectives:</b> Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is heterogeneous within the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum, and categorical labels may not reflect biological variability. We evaluated whether multimodal machine learning using routine clinical data and neuroimaging could support biologically informed enrichment across MCI and AD in a real-world memory clinic cohort. <b>Methods:</b> We analyzed 474 patients (1547 visits) with clinical and cognitive measures, laboratory parameters, MRI regional volumes, and FDG-PET regional uptake. Elastic Net and gradient boosting models were trained using nested cross-validation with strict patient-level separation. <b>Results:</b> Model discrimination improved as additional data modalities were added, and FDG-PET contributed the largest performance improvement. Hypometabolism in posterior default mode network regions consistently emerged as the most influential predictor. In the MCI subgroup, AD-like scores showed a continuous distribution consistent with biological enrichment. <b>Conclusions:</b> Multimodal models may provide an interpretable enrichment framework in heterogeneous memory clinic populations.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Clinical Medicine
Published
2026-03-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15062250
Primary Topic
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Real-World Multimodal Machine Learning for Risk Enrichment Across the Alzheimer’s Disease Spectrum

İnci M. Baytaş, Hakan Mutlu, Nazlı Gamze Bülbül, Muammer Urhan et al.
Journal of Clinical Medicine
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
article

Real-World Multimodal Machine Learning for Risk Enrichment Across the Alzheimer’s Disease Spectrum

İnci M. Baytaş, Hakan Mutlu, Nazlı Gamze Bülbül, Muammer Urhan, Buse Gül Belen, Nefise Eda Arslanoğlu, İsmail Serhat Musaoğlu, Başak Ceren Okcu Korkmaz, Elvan Karasu, Mehmet Fatih Özdağ, Ayşe Rana Övüt, Efekan Kavalcı
article en

Abstract

<b>Background and Objectives:</b> Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is heterogeneous within the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum, and categorical labels may not reflect biological variability. We evaluated whether multimodal machine learning using routine clinical data and neuroimaging could support biologically informed enrichment across MCI and AD in a real-world memory clinic cohort. <b>Methods:</b> We analyzed 474 patients (1547 visits) with clinical and cognitive measures, laboratory parameters, MRI regional volumes, and FDG-PET regional uptake. Elastic Net and gradient boosting models were trained using nested cross-validation with strict patient-level separation. <b>Results:</b> Model discrimination improved as additional data modalities were added, and FDG-PET contributed the largest performance improvement. Hypometabolism in posterior default mode network regions consistently emerged as the most influential predictor. In the MCI subgroup, AD-like scores showed a continuous distribution consistent with biological enrichment. <b>Conclusions:</b> Multimodal models may provide an interpretable enrichment framework in heterogeneous memory clinic populations.

Journal of Clinical MedicineVol. 15(6)
University of Health Science (KH), Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi (TR), Universidad CES (CO), Boğaziçi University (TR), University of Health Sciences Antigua (AG)
European Academy of Neurology
Reduced inequalities, Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 30%
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
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