Healthy Brains

Name: Healthy Brains
Author: Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic

DOCUMENTED

Published in academic literature

For:General Public & EnthusiastsPatients & Caregivers

Free

Download on the App Store

App Summary

Healthy Brains provides a personal Brain Health Index (BHI) to assess cognitive health and help stratify an individual's risk for neurodegenerative disease. A validation study (N=469) of the underlying BHI demonstrated strong correlations with established cognitive and functional measures, resulting in a 16-fold increase in identifying individuals likely to have cognitive impairment. The associated research concludes that the BHI is a validated metric for risk stratification, and a low score warrants further formal assessment by a medical provider.

App Screenshots

Detailed Description

Functionality & Mechanism

The Healthy Brains app generates a Brain Health Index (BHI), a unified metric for assessing cognitive health and risk. The system integrates user input on vulnerability and resilience factors with performance on a brief cognitive assessment (Number Symbol Coding Task). This process produces a BHI score, which facilitates longitudinal tracking of brain health. The interface is designed for repeated self-assessment to monitor changes and understand the potential impact of lifestyle modifications on cognitive status.

Evidence & Research Context

The Brain Health Index (BHI) metric utilized by the app was validated in research involving 469 participants across a cognitive spectrum (cognitively normal, MCI, and ADRD).

The BHI demonstrated strong correlations with established clinical measures for cognitive (MoCA, r²=0.408) and functional (FAQ, r²=0.278) status.
Threshold analysis revealed that 89.2% of participants with a low BHI score had existing cognitive impairment.
The metric was associated with a 16-fold increase in identifying individuals likely to have cognitive impairment.
The index also showed significant correlations with neurodegenerative biomarkers, including neurofilament light chain (NfL).

Intended Use & Scope

This tool is intended for the general public for self-assessment and longitudinal monitoring of cognitive health status. Its primary utility is preliminary risk stratification based on the BHI score. The app does not provide a clinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease and is not a substitute for professional medical evaluation. Users should consult a healthcare provider to interpret results and address concerns.

Studies & Publications

1 publication

Peer-reviewed research associated with this app.

Development/Design Paper

The Brain Health Index: Integrating vulnerability, resilience, and cognitive function into a unified measure of cognitive health and risk of neurodegenerative disease

Kleiman et al. (2025) · Alzheimer's & Dementia

Describes the research-driven development of this app

INTRODUCTION Assessing brain health and identifying cognitive impairment risk remains challenging, with only 11.4% of MCI cases receiving timely diagnoses. We developed the Brain Health Index (BHI), integrating the Vulnerability Index, Resilience Index, and Number Symbol Coding Task into a unified metric. METHODS We evaluated 469 participants (258 congnitively normal [CN], 140 mild cognitive impairment [MCI], 49 Alzheimer's disease and related dementias [ADRD]) using comprehensive clinical, cognitive, and biomarker assessments. After empirically‐derived weighting, BHI thresholds were developed. Cross‐sectional associations and longitudinal analyses were performed, with threshold validation for risk stratification. RESULTS BHI demonstrated strong correlations with cognitive (Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA] r 2 = 0.408), functional (Functional Activities Questionnaire [FAQ] r 2 = 0.278), and biomarker (neurofilament light chain [NfL] r 2 = 0.073) measures. Complete mediation was observed for NfL and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) changes over 1 year. Threshold analysis revealed 89.2% of low BHI participants had cognitive impairment, with only one ADRD case in the high BHI group. DISCUSSION The BHI provides a brief, validated, comprehensive brain health metric with clinical utility for risk stratification and intervention monitoring. Highlights Assessing brain health status and identifying individuals at risk for cognitive impairment remains a significant challenge, particularly in early prodromal and symptomatic stages when current therapies may be most effective and patients may be eligible for clinical trials. We created a unified metric, the Brain Health Index (BHI), combining resilience and vulnerability factors with cognitive performance that divided individuals into high, indeterminant, and low risk groups. The BHI demonstrated strong correlations with cognitive, functional, and biomarker measures. The BHI had a 16‐fold increase in identifying individuals who were likely to have cognitive impairment. The BHI provides a brief, validated, comprehensive brain health metric with clinical utility for risk stratification and intervention monitoring.

In the Media

The 6 Pillars of Brain Health

Cleveland Clinic developed Healthy Brains to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, using their scientifically demonstrated "Six Pillars of Brain Health" framework. Psychiatrist Dylan Wint, MD emphasizes that "you can influence this," noting that daily decisions can have an enormous impact on brain health and protect against cognitive decline. The approach recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise weekly, as research shows regular physical activity can reduce dementia risk and slow cognitive decline progression.

HealthybrainsRead article

Las Vegas-originated website tests your brain health

The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas developed HealthyBrains.org to help users test their brain health through prevention-focused assessment, providing scores from zero to 100 based on six pillars of brain health. "We are focusing on prevention, not treatment," said Dr. Kate Zhong, senior director of clinical research and development at the Ruvo center. The Caesars Foundation funded the initiative with $200,000 for this year and a proposed $200,000 for 2016-17.

ReviewjournalRead article