591 research outputs found
Synergetic and redundant information flow detected by unnormalized Granger causality: application to resting state fMRI
Objectives: We develop a framework for the analysis of synergy and redundancy
in the pattern of information flow between subsystems of a complex network.
Methods: The presence of redundancy and/or synergy in multivariate time series
data renders difficult to estimate the neat flow of information from each
driver variable to a given target. We show that adopting an unnormalized
definition of Granger causality one may put in evidence redundant multiplets of
variables influencing the target by maximizing the total Granger causality to a
given target, over all the possible partitions of the set of driving variables.
Consequently we introduce a pairwise index of synergy which is zero when two
independent sources additively influence the future state of the system,
differently from previous definitions of synergy. Results: We report the
application of the proposed approach to resting state fMRI data from the Human
Connectome Project, showing that redundant pairs of regions arise mainly due to
space contiguity and interhemispheric symmetry, whilst synergy occurs mainly
between non-homologous pairs of regions in opposite hemispheres. Conclusions:
Redundancy and synergy, in healthy resting brains, display characteristic
patterns, revealed by the proposed approach. Significance: The pairwise synergy
index, here introduced, maps the informational character of the system at hand
into a weighted complex network: the same approach can be applied to other
complex systems whose normal state corresponds to a balance between redundant
and synergetic circuits.Comment: 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1403.515
A blind deconvolution approach to recover effective connectivity brain networks from resting state fMRI data
A great improvement to the insight on brain function that we can get from
fMRI data can come from effective connectivity analysis, in which the flow of
information between even remote brain regions is inferred by the parameters of
a predictive dynamical model. As opposed to biologically inspired models, some
techniques as Granger causality (GC) are purely data-driven and rely on
statistical prediction and temporal precedence. While powerful and widely
applicable, this approach could suffer from two main limitations when applied
to BOLD fMRI data: confounding effect of hemodynamic response function (HRF)
and conditioning to a large number of variables in presence of short time
series. For task-related fMRI, neural population dynamics can be captured by
modeling signal dynamics with explicit exogenous inputs; for resting-state fMRI
on the other hand, the absence of explicit inputs makes this task more
difficult, unless relying on some specific prior physiological hypothesis. In
order to overcome these issues and to allow a more general approach, here we
present a simple and novel blind-deconvolution technique for BOLD-fMRI signal.
Coming to the second limitation, a fully multivariate conditioning with short
and noisy data leads to computational problems due to overfitting. Furthermore,
conceptual issues arise in presence of redundancy. We thus apply partial
conditioning to a limited subset of variables in the framework of information
theory, as recently proposed. Mixing these two improvements we compare the
differences between BOLD and deconvolved BOLD level effective networks and draw
some conclusions
Multiscale Information Decomposition: Exact Computation for Multivariate Gaussian Processes
Exploiting the theory of state space models, we derive the exact expressions
of the information transfer, as well as redundant and synergistic transfer, for
coupled Gaussian processes observed at multiple temporal scales. All of the
terms, constituting the frameworks known as interaction information
decomposition and partial information decomposition, can thus be analytically
obtained for different time scales from the parameters of the VAR model that
fits the processes. We report the application of the proposed methodology
firstly to benchmark Gaussian systems, showing that this class of systems may
generate patterns of information decomposition characterized by mainly
redundant or synergistic information transfer persisting across multiple time
scales or even by the alternating prevalence of redundant and synergistic
source interaction depending on the time scale. Then, we apply our method to an
important topic in neuroscience, i.e., the detection of causal interactions in
human epilepsy networks, for which we show the relevance of partial information
decomposition to the detection of multiscale information transfer spreading
from the seizure onset zone
Advancing functional connectivity research from association to causation
Cognition and behavior emerge from brain network interactions, such that investigating causal interactions should be central to the study of brain function. Approaches that characterize statistical associations among neural time series-functional connectivity (FC) methods-are likely a good starting point for estimating brain network interactions. Yet only a subset of FC methods ('effective connectivity') is explicitly designed to infer causal interactions from statistical associations. Here we incorporate best practices from diverse areas of FC research to illustrate how FC methods can be refined to improve inferences about neural mechanisms, with properties of causal neural interactions as a common ontology to facilitate cumulative progress across FC approaches. We further demonstrate how the most common FC measures (correlation and coherence) reduce the set of likely causal models, facilitating causal inferences despite major limitations. Alternative FC measures are suggested to immediately start improving causal inferences beyond these common FC measures
Analysing connectivity with Granger causality and dynamic causal modelling
This review considers state-of-the-art analyses of functional integration in neuronal macrocircuits. We focus on detecting and estimating directed connectivity in neuronal networks using Granger causality (GC) and dynamic causal modelling (DCM). These approaches are considered in the context of functional segregation and integration and — within functional integration — the distinction between functional and effective connectivity. We review recent developments that have enjoyed a rapid uptake in the discovery and quantification of functional brain architectures. GC and DCM have distinct and complementary ambitions that are usefully considered in relation to the detection of functional connectivity and the identification of models of effective connectivity. We highlight the basic ideas upon which they are grounded, provide a comparative evaluation and point to some outstanding issues
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