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Morris, E. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Morris, E. D..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Generating Biomedical Knowledge Graphs from Knowledge Bases, Registries, and Multiomic Data

As large clinical and multiomics datasets and knowledge resources accumulate, they need to be transformed into computable and actionable information to support automated reasoning. These datasets range from laboratory experiment results to electronic health records (EHRs). Barriers to accessibility and sharing of such datasets include diversity of content, size and privacy. Effective transformation of data into information requires harmonization of stakeholder goals, implementation, enforcement of standards regarding quality and completeness, and availability of resources for maintenance and updates. Systems such as the Biomedical Data Translator leverage knowledge graphs (KGs), structured and machine learning readable knowledge representation, to encode knowledge extracted through inference. We focus here on the transformation of data from multiomics datasets and EHRs into compact knowledge, represented in a KG data structure. We demonstrate this data transformation in the context of the Translator ecosystem, including clinical trials, drug approvals, cancer, wellness, and EHR data. These transformations preserve individual privacy. We provide access to the five resulting KGs through the Translator framework. We show examples of biomedical research questions supported by our KGs, and discuss issues arising from extracting biomedical knowledge from multiomics data.

bioinformatics↗

Reliability of the correlative triad among aging, dopamine D2-like receptor availability, and cognition

The evidence that dopamine function mediates the association between aging and cognition is one of the most cited findings in the cognitive neuroscience of aging. However, few and relatively small studies have directly examined these associations. Here we examined correlations among adult age, dopamine D2-like receptor (D2R) availability, and cognition in two cross-sectional studies of healthy human adults. Participants completed a short cognitive test battery and, on a separate day, a PET scan with either the high-affinity D2R tracer [18F]Fallypride (Study 1) or [11C]FLB457 (Study 2). Digit span, a measure of short-term memory maintenance and working memory, was the only cognitive test for which dopamine D2R availability partially mediated the age effect on cognition. In Study 1, age was negatively correlated with digit span. Striatal D2R availability was positively correlated with digit span controlling for age. The age effect on digit span was smaller when controlling for striatal D2R availability. Although other cognitive measures used here have individually been associated with age and D2R availability in prior studies, we found no consistent evidence for significant associations between low D2R availability and low cognitive performance on these measures. These results at best only partially supported the correlative triad of age, dopamine D2R availability, and cognition. While a wealth of other research in human and non-human animals demonstrates that dopamine makes critical contributions to cognition, the present studies suggest caution in interpreting PET findings as evidence that dopamine D2R loss is a primary cause of broad age-related declines in fluid cognition.

neuroscience↗