X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's disease

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is critical for effective therapeutic intervention. The progressive nature of cognitive decline requires precise computational methods to detect subtle neuroanatomical changes in prodromal stages. Current multi-scale neural networks have limited cross-scal...

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Main Authors: Wenhui Chen, Shunwu Xu, Yiran Peng, Hong Zhang, Jian Zhang, Huaihao Zheng, Hao Yan, Zhaowen Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Neurology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1630838/full
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author Wenhui Chen
Shunwu Xu
Yiran Peng
Yiran Peng
Hong Zhang
Jian Zhang
Huaihao Zheng
Hao Yan
Zhaowen Chen
Zhaowen Chen
author_facet Wenhui Chen
Shunwu Xu
Yiran Peng
Yiran Peng
Hong Zhang
Jian Zhang
Huaihao Zheng
Hao Yan
Zhaowen Chen
Zhaowen Chen
author_sort Wenhui Chen
collection DOAJ
description Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is critical for effective therapeutic intervention. The progressive nature of cognitive decline requires precise computational methods to detect subtle neuroanatomical changes in prodromal stages. Current multi-scale neural networks have limited cross-scale feature integration capabilities, which constrain their effectiveness in identifying early neurodegenerative markers. This paper presents an Efficient Cross-Scale Feature-Aware Self-Attention Network (X-FASNet) designed to address these limitations through systematic hierarchical representation learning. The proposed architecture implements a dual-pathway multi-scale feature extraction approach to identify discriminative neuroanatomical patterns across various spatial resolutions, while integrating a novel cross-scale feature-aware self-attention module that enhances inter-scale information exchange and captures long-range dependencies. Quantitative evaluations on the DPC-SF dataset demonstrate that X-FASNet achieves superior performance with 93.7% accuracy and 0.973 F1-score, outperforming CONVADD by 10.8 percentage points in accuracy and 0.118 in F1-score, while also surpassing EfficientB2 on key performance metrics. Comprehensive experimentation across multiple neuroimaging datasets confirms that X-FASNet provides an effective computational framework for neurodegeneration assessment, characterized by enhanced detection of subtle anatomical variations and improved pathological pattern recognition.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1664-2295
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publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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spelling doaj-art-0a881cd747f84d2099ce0b6eb6ad72cf2025-08-20T04:02:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952025-08-011610.3389/fneur.2025.16308381630838X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's diseaseWenhui Chen0Shunwu Xu1Yiran Peng2Yiran Peng3Hong Zhang4Jian Zhang5Huaihao Zheng6Hao Yan7Zhaowen Chen8Zhaowen Chen9Key Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaFaculty of Innovation Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Macau, ChinaKey Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaKey Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuzhou, ChinaFaculty of Innovation Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Macau, ChinaEarly diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is critical for effective therapeutic intervention. The progressive nature of cognitive decline requires precise computational methods to detect subtle neuroanatomical changes in prodromal stages. Current multi-scale neural networks have limited cross-scale feature integration capabilities, which constrain their effectiveness in identifying early neurodegenerative markers. This paper presents an Efficient Cross-Scale Feature-Aware Self-Attention Network (X-FASNet) designed to address these limitations through systematic hierarchical representation learning. The proposed architecture implements a dual-pathway multi-scale feature extraction approach to identify discriminative neuroanatomical patterns across various spatial resolutions, while integrating a novel cross-scale feature-aware self-attention module that enhances inter-scale information exchange and captures long-range dependencies. Quantitative evaluations on the DPC-SF dataset demonstrate that X-FASNet achieves superior performance with 93.7% accuracy and 0.973 F1-score, outperforming CONVADD by 10.8 percentage points in accuracy and 0.118 in F1-score, while also surpassing EfficientB2 on key performance metrics. Comprehensive experimentation across multiple neuroimaging datasets confirms that X-FASNet provides an effective computational framework for neurodegeneration assessment, characterized by enhanced detection of subtle anatomical variations and improved pathological pattern recognition.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1630838/fullAlzheimer's diseasemulti-scale modelcross-scale feature-aware self-attentionfeature fusioncognitive decline assessment
spellingShingle Wenhui Chen
Shunwu Xu
Yiran Peng
Yiran Peng
Hong Zhang
Jian Zhang
Huaihao Zheng
Hao Yan
Zhaowen Chen
Zhaowen Chen
X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's disease
Frontiers in Neurology
Alzheimer's disease
multi-scale model
cross-scale feature-aware self-attention
feature fusion
cognitive decline assessment
title X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's disease
title_full X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's disease
title_fullStr X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's disease
title_full_unstemmed X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's disease
title_short X-FASNet: cross-scale feature-aware with self-attention network for cognitive decline assessment in Alzheimer's disease
title_sort x fasnet cross scale feature aware with self attention network for cognitive decline assessment in alzheimer s disease
topic Alzheimer's disease
multi-scale model
cross-scale feature-aware self-attention
feature fusion
cognitive decline assessment
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1630838/full
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