Russian scientists have learned to pinpoint depression with 93% accuracy using MRI and AI. Neural networks look for differences in brain connectivity structures between people with and without the disorder. The method would help general practitioners distinguish between clinical depression and depression with bipolar disorder, a major Russian daily reported.
The experiment involved 49 healthy individuals and 35 people with depression. The diagnosis took 15 minutes. The MRI recorded blood flow in the brain, which is used to determine the activity of certain areas. People with depression are known to have weaker connections between certain areas of the brain.
In the next phase, the scientists plan to study changes in brain activity in people with bipolar disorder and teach artificial intelligence to distinguish it from clinical depression.
The method was developed by scientists from the Baltic Center for Neurotechnologies and Artificial Intelligence at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (IKBFU), the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv, and Ural Federal University.