From decades to years - AI could speed search for brain drugs hiding in plain sight

From decades to years - AI could speed search for brain drugs hiding in plain sightJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleZoe Kleinman,technology editorandPhilippa WainBBCSteven Barrett OBE is taking part in research with the UK Dementia Institute to try and improve outcomes for those living with MND and other brain diseasesScientists are using AI to accelerate the search for treatments for neurological conditions that may be hiding in plain sight.Researchers at the UK Dementia Research Institute in Edinburgh analyse patient data including voice recordings and eye scans, as well as lab-grown brain cells, to identify whether existing drugs could be repurposed to treat conditions such as motor neurone disease (MND).The scientists hope that by using algorithms to detect patterns of disease and predict suitable medicines, effective treatments could be found in "years rather than decades".That hope is shared by trial participant Steven Barrett, who was diagnosed with MND 10 years ago.Steven had been planning his active retirement after a long and decorated career in the civil service, when he began to notice a numbness in his leg.A few years later he was diagnosed with MND - a degenerative neurological condition which does not yet have a cure."MND is a horrible disease, it strips you of who you are," he tells the BBC at his home in Alloa, Scotland."It rips any sense of future that you may feel that you had planned for yourself - all that goes."His family also did not see it coming, Steven says - showing us photos of himself at work, at parties and at his son's wedding.Scientists at the UK Dementia Institute use patient data and lab-grown brain cells in their researchBut he describes the trials as a "bright light" of hope for himself and others with MND or similar conditions.One such trial, MND-SMART, sees several drugs tested at the same time as opposed to one group given a treatment and another a placebo."For me the...