Optimizing the Accuracy of Alzheimer's Detection Using Machine Learning and Intelligent Feature Selection Strategies

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which early detection remains a significant challenge due to the complexity of clinical features and the high dimensionality of medical data. This study aims to improve the accuracy and reliability of Alzheimer’s disease detection by evaluating the performance of multiple machine learning algorithms integrated with intelligent feature selection strategies. Five classification models, Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, Logistic Regression, and Deep Learning, were investigated under two experimental scenarios: without feature selection and with feature selection using Recursive Feature Elimination, Binary Particle Swarm Optimization, and Variance Threshold. Model performance was evaluated using K-fold cross-validation based on accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score metrics. The results demonstrate that feature selection consistently enhances classification performance, particularly for conventional machine learning models such as Random Forest and Logistic Regression. Although the Deep Learning model achieves competitive accuracy, its reduced precision and F1-score indicate limitations when applied to reduced feature spaces. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating appropriate feature selection techniques to address data complexity and improve the effectiveness of early Alzheimer’s disease detection.