Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2025

Symmetric Bihemispheric Postmortem Brain Cutting to Study Healthy and Pathological Brain Conditions in Humans
Published on: December 18, 2016
The Cognitive Framework Behind Modern Neuropathology
1From the Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus.
Context:
In 2021 the World Health Organization distributed a new classification of central nervous system tumors that incorporated modern testing modalities in the diagnosis. Although universally accepted as a scientifically superior system, this schema has created controversy because its deployment globally is challenging in the best of circumstances and impossible in resource-poor health care ecosystems. Compounding this problem is the significant challenge that neuropathologists with expertise in central nervous system tumors are rare.
Objective:
To demonstrate diagnostic use of simple unsupervised machine learning techniques using publicly available data sets. I also discuss some potential solutions to the deployment of neuropathology classification in health care ecosystems burdened by this classification schema.
Data Sources:
The Cancer Genome Atlas RNA sequencing data from low-grade and high-grade gliomas.
Conclusions:
Methylation-based classification will be unable to solve all diagnostic problems in neuropathology. Information theory quantifications generate focused workflows in pathology, resulting in prevention of ordering unnecessary tests and identifying biomarkers that facilitate diagnosis.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Psychosis: Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Researchers have identified genetic factors that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia, underscoring the intricate interplay between genetics and environment in disease development. At the core of schizophrenia's pathophysiology is excessive dopaminergic neurotransmission within...
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ...
Neuroplasticity
Neuron Structure
Structure and Function of Neurons
The neuronal cell body—the soma— houses the nucleus and organelles vital to...

