57,016 research outputs found
Disentangling causal webs in the brain using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A review of current approaches
In the past two decades, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been used
to relate neuronal network activity to cognitive processing and behaviour.
Recently this approach has been augmented by algorithms that allow us to infer
causal links between component populations of neuronal networks. Multiple
inference procedures have been proposed to approach this research question but
so far, each method has limitations when it comes to establishing whole-brain
connectivity patterns. In this work, we discuss eight ways to infer causality
in fMRI research: Bayesian Nets, Dynamical Causal Modelling, Granger Causality,
Likelihood Ratios, LiNGAM, Patel's Tau, Structural Equation Modelling, and
Transfer Entropy. We finish with formulating some recommendations for the
future directions in this area
Discriminative conditional restricted Boltzmann machine for discrete choice and latent variable modelling
Conventional methods of estimating latent behaviour generally use attitudinal
questions which are subjective and these survey questions may not always be
available. We hypothesize that an alternative approach can be used for latent
variable estimation through an undirected graphical models. For instance,
non-parametric artificial neural networks. In this study, we explore the use of
generative non-parametric modelling methods to estimate latent variables from
prior choice distribution without the conventional use of measurement
indicators. A restricted Boltzmann machine is used to represent latent
behaviour factors by analyzing the relationship information between the
observed choices and explanatory variables. The algorithm is adapted for latent
behaviour analysis in discrete choice scenario and we use a graphical approach
to evaluate and understand the semantic meaning from estimated parameter vector
values. We illustrate our methodology on a financial instrument choice dataset
and perform statistical analysis on parameter sensitivity and stability. Our
findings show that through non-parametric statistical tests, we can extract
useful latent information on the behaviour of latent constructs through machine
learning methods and present strong and significant influence on the choice
process. Furthermore, our modelling framework shows robustness in input
variability through sampling and validation
Inferring causal relations from multivariate time series : a fast method for large-scale gene expression data
Various multivariate time series analysis techniques have been developed with the aim of inferring causal relations between time series. Previously, these techniques have proved their effectiveness on economic and neurophysiological data, which normally consist of hundreds of samples. However, in their applications to gene regulatory inference, the small sample size of gene expression time series poses an obstacle. In this paper, we describe some of the most commonly used multivariate inference techniques and show the potential challenge related to gene expression analysis. In response, we propose a directed partial correlation (DPC) algorithm as an efficient and effective solution to causal/regulatory relations inference on small sample gene expression data. Comparative evaluations on the existing techniques and the proposed method are presented. To draw reliable conclusions, a comprehensive benchmarking on data sets of various setups is essential. Three experiments are designed to assess these methods in a coherent manner. Detailed analysis of experimental results not only reveals good accuracy of the proposed DPC method in large-scale prediction, but also gives much insight into all methods under evaluation
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