{"id":52140,"date":"2025-03-10T10:33:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T14:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/ams\/?post_type=news&p=52140"},"modified":"2025-09-17T13:21:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T17:21:58","slug":"new-method-makes-brain-studies-in-hiv-patients-more-efficient","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/ams\/news\/new-method-makes-brain-studies-in-hiv-patients-more-efficient\/","title":{"rendered":"New method makes brain studies in HIV patients more efficient"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a new method that could advance research into HIV\u2019s effects on the brain by enabling scientists to pool and compare results from different types of cognitive tests without having to administer new tests to groups of patients\u2014saving both time and resources while improving understanding of how the disease affects thinking and memory.<\/p>\n

Details about the research appear in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis approach not only broadens the scope of research but also holds the potential to deepen our understanding of the neurological complications faced by people living with HIV, ultimately improving clinical treatment outcomes and advancing therapeutic strategies,\u201d said co-author Lang Lang, a PhD student in the Whiting School of Engineering\u2019s Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One major challenge in understanding the cognitive effects of HIV is the use of different tests across studies, making it difficult to compare patients\u2019 memory performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s similar to trying to evaluate two students’ abilities when they take entirely different exams. Without a way to translate results from one test to another, the comparisons become unreliable, which has hindered progress in HIV neuroscience research,\u201d said lead author Yanxun Xu<\/a>, associate professor, Joseph and Suzanne Jenniches Faculty Scholar in applied mathematics and statistics.<\/p>\n

To solve this problem, the research team developed the harmonization process based on second-order factor model\u2014an innovative approach that extracts measures of underlying cognitive abilities\u2014such as memory\u2014from across tests, even when those tests are entirely different. By using correlations between areas of cognitive functioning (called \u201cdomains\u201d) such as language skills and motor skills, the model draws on a broader understanding of how cognition works, allowing direct comparisons of memory performance even when the original studies used different tests.<\/p>\n

The second-order factor model works in two stages. In the first, it consolidates data from various cognitive tests within a single domain, such as memory, to create a summary score. In the second stage, it integrates these domain-specific scores to create a comprehensive “general function” factor that reflects an individual\u2019s overall cognitive health.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy synthesizing data from diverse studies and creating a more consistent way to measure brain function, the second-order factor model could transform HIV research and help improve treatments for people living with the virus,\u201d said Xu.<\/p>\n

The study also includes Leah Rubin and Raha Dastgheyb, both professors at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; David Vance, professor and associate dean at The University of Alabama at Birmingham; Scott Letendre and Donald Franklin, both from the University of California, San Diego.<\/p>\n

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