External Validation of a Mathematical Model of Brain Health
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Background
Understanding the mechanisms underlying brain aging and age-related pathological changes is essential for advancing brain health research. Our group previously developed a mechanistic mathematical model of healthy brain Chamberland et al. (2024) that integrates key biological processes involved in normal aging, from which Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related changes may emerge naturally.
Objectives
To characterize and validate this brain model by evaluating its sensitivity, calibrating its parameters, and assessing generalizability in independent populations.
Methods
The model represents the evolution of key biological processes associated with brain aging, including amyloid beta (A β ), tau pathologies, neuroinflammation, and neuronal death. After identifying the 30 most influential parameters, we calibrated the model using cognitively normal (CN) participants from the AD Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database ( n = 211) by minimizing a loss function composed of three outcomes (A β plaques, tau tangles, and neuronal density). The calibrated model was then applied to the UK Biobank cohort ( n = 35, 899) of normal controls (aged 44–82 years). The effects of sex and APOE were evaluated using stratified simulations.
Results
Parameter calibration significantly reduced the prediction errors for A β and tau. Neuronal density predictions showed strong agreement in the UK Biobank cohort. The variance decomposition identified APOE status as a major contributor to variability in A β .
Conclusion
Our validated brain health model links mechanistic pathways with population data and reproduces neuronal density patterns in an independent cohort. These findings support its use as a framework for studying brain aging and investigating how Alzheimer’s disease-related pathological changes may emerge with aging.
