Home › Research › Digital health tools
Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test scores can be predicted from whole brain MRI in Alzheimer's disease
Moradi E, Hallikainen I, Hänninen T, Tohka J, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.. NeuroImage. Clinical, 2016-12-18
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is a powerful neuropsychological tool for testing episodic memory, which is widely used for the cognitive assessment in dementia and pre-dementia conditions. Several studies have shown that an impairment in RAVLT scores reflect well the underlying pathology caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD), thus making RAVLT an effective early marker to detect AD in persons with memory complaints. We investigated the association between RAVLT scores (RAVLT Immediate and RAVLT Percent Forgetting) and the structural brain atrophy caused by AD. The aim was to comprehensively study to what extent the RAVLT scores are predictable based on structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data using machine learning approaches as well as to find the most important brain regions for the estimation of RAVLT scores. For this, we built a predictive model to estimate RAVLT scores from gray matter density via elastic net penalized linear regression model. The proposed approach provided highly significant cross-validated correlation between the estimated and observed RAVLT Immediate (R = 0.50) and RAVLT Percent Forgetting (R = 0.43) in a dataset consisting of 806 AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or healthy subjects. In addition, the selected machine learning method provided more accurate estimates of RAVLT scores than the relevance vector regression used earlier for the estimation of RAVLT based on MRI data. The top predictors were medial temporal lobe structures and amygdala for the estimation of RAVLT Immediate and angular gyrus, hippocampus and amygdala for the estimation of RAVLT Percent Forgetting. Further, the conversion of MCI subjects to AD in 3-years could be predicted based on either observed or estimated RAVLT scores with an accuracy comparable to MRI-based biomarkers.
Key findings
- Several studies have shown that an impairment in RAVLT scores reflect well the underlying pathology caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD), thus making RAVLT an effective early marker to detect AD in persons with memory complaints.
- The proposed approach provided highly significant cross-validated correlation between the estimated and observed RAVLT Immediate (R = 0.50) and RAVLT Percent Forgetting (R = 0.43) in a dataset consisting of 806 AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or healthy subjects.
Why it matters
A machine learning model estimated scores on a verbal learning and memory test from MRI scans of the brain, with moderate accuracy, in a group that included people with Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and healthy subjects. This is a research finding about predicting test scores from scans, not a treatment or cure.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Digital health →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 45/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (NeuroImage. Clinical) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | NeuroImage Clinical: journal h-index 133 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 192 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 17.5 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 5 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 63 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Jussi Tohka: h-index 37 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of Eastern Finland: institution h-index 616 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28116234) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 45 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2016.12.011
- PubMed: 28116234
- Original source →
- Free full text: NeuroImage Clinical →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Moradi, E., Hallikainen, I., Hänninen, T., Tohka, J., & Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. (2017). Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test scores can be predicted from whole brain MRI in Alzheimer's disease. NeuroImage. Clinical. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2016.12.011
Vancouver
Moradi E, Hallikainen I, Hänninen T, Tohka J, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test scores can be predicted from whole brain MRI in Alzheimer's disease. NeuroImage. Clinical. 2017. doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2016.12.011. PMID: 28116234.
BibTeX
@article{moradi2017-28116234,
author = {Moradi, E. and Hallikainen, I. and Hänninen, T. and Tohka, J. and {Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative}},
title = {{Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test scores can be predicted from whole brain MRI in Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {NeuroImage. Clinical},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1016/j.nicl.2016.12.011},
pmid = {28116234},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2016.12.011}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 13.
Later studies that cite this one
5 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Digital health tools
Also tagged “classification”
835 studies in the library carry the topic tag “classification”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 835 tagged studies.