Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40800884›Full record

ArticleImaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)2025

The utility of explainable AI for MRI analysis: Relating model predictions to neuroimaging features of the aging brain.

Simon M Hofmann, Ole Goltermann, Nico Scherf, Klaus-Robert Müller, Markus Löffler, Arno Villringer, Michael Gaebler, A Veronica Witte, Frauke Beyer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Simon M HofmannDepartment of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0958-501X
Ole GoltermannDepartment of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8566-6009
Nico ScherfNeural Data Science and Statistical Computing, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4003-9121
Klaus-Robert MüllerDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3861-7685
Markus LöfflerInstitute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology; University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0424-9933
Arno VillringerDepartment of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2604-2404
Michael GaeblerDepartment of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4442-5778
A Veronica WitteDepartment of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9054-6688
Frauke BeyerDepartment of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5401-852X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Deep learning models highly accurately predict brain age from MRI but their explanatory capacity is limited. Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods can identify relevant voxels contributing to model estimates, yet they do not reveal which biological features these voxels represent. In this study, we closed this gap by relating voxel-based contributions to brain-age estimates, extracted with XAI, to human-interpretable structural features of the aging brain. To this end, we associated participant-level XAI-based relevance maps extracted from two ensembles of 3D-convolutional neural networks (3D-CNNs) that were trained on T1-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of 1855 participants (age range 18-82 years), with regional cortical and subcortical gray matter volume and thickness, perivascular spaces (PVS), and water diffusion-based fractional anisotropy of major white matter tracts. We found that all neuroimaging markers of brain aging, except for PVS, were highly correlated with the XAI-based relevance maps. Overall, the strongest correlation was found between ventricular volume and relevance (

Indexed as

brain agecerebral small vessel diseasecortical thicknessdeep learningexplainable AIsubcortical volume

Identifiers

PMID40800884
PMCPMC12319959

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.