Determine functional brain connections in Alzheimer's disease by using Molecular Dynamics method in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

In this study, a five-step algorithm is presented to determine functional brain connections in Alzheimer's disease by using Molecular Dynamics method in functional MRI images. First, a set of functional MRI images for the resting state of Alzheimer's patients is obtained from the ADNI image database. Second, the images are prepared for processing through several steps of filtering, normalizing, smoothing and realigning. Third, the images are processed. Fourth, a set of non-linear indicators is performed on the extracted 160 target areas to examine the brain connections between the target areas for each person's data. The aim is to determine the significant decrease or increase of brain connections over time in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. This is repeated for other patients. Also, this comparison has been made for healthy and Alzheimer's patients. Fifth, the areas of the brain that have had a significant difference in terms of brain connections with the help of the atlas coordinates are identified and the decrease or increase in brain connections is investigated from a physiological point of view. The results of this study showed that there is a significant decrease in memory connections after the passage of time in Alzheimer's patients.