Predictive decoding of neural data

In the last five decades the number of techniques available for non-invasive functional imaging has increased dramatically. Researchers today can choose from a variety of imaging modalities that include EEG, MEG, PET, SPECT, MRI, and fMRI. This doctoral dissertation offers a methodology for the reliable analysis of neural data at different levels of investigation. By using statistical learning algorithms the proposed approach allows single-trial analysis of various neural data by decoding them into variables of interest. Unbiased testing of the decoder on new samples of the data provides a generalization assessment of decoding performance reliability. Through consecutive analysis of the constructed decoder\u27s sensitivity it is possible to identify neural signal components relevant to the task of interest. The proposed methodology accounts for covariance and causality structures present in the signal. This feature makes it more powerful than conventional univariate methods which currently dominate the neuroscience field. Chapter 2 describes the generic approach toward the analysis of neural data using statistical learning algorithms. Chapter 3 presents an analysis of results from four neural data modalities: extracellular recordings, EEG, MEG, and fMRI. These examples demonstrate the ability of the approach to reveal neural data components which cannot be uncovered with conventional methods. A further extension of the methodology, Chapter 4 is used to analyze data from multiple neural data modalities: EEG and fMRI. The reliable mapping of data from one modality into the other provides a better understanding of the underlying neural processes. By allowing the spatial-temporal exploration of neural signals under loose modeling assumptions, it removes potential bias in the analysis of neural data due to otherwise possible forward model misspecification. The proposed methodology has been formalized into a free and open source Python framework for statistical learning based data analysis. This framework, PyMVPA, is described in Chapter 5

Statistical Learning Analysis in Neuroscience: Aiming for Transparency

Encouraged by a rise of reciprocal interest between the machine learning and neuroscience communities, several recent studies have demonstrated the explanatory power of statistical learning techniques for the analysis of neural data. In order to facilitate a wider adoption of these methods, neuroscientific research needs to ensure a maximum of transparency to allow for comprehensive evaluation of the employed procedures. We argue that such transparency requires “neuroscience-aware” technology for the performance of multivariate pattern analyses of neural data that can be documented in a comprehensive, yet comprehensible way. Recently, we introduced PyMVPA, a specialized Python framework for machine learning based data analysis that addresses this demand. Here, we review its features and applicability to various neural data modalities

Multimodal Integration: fMRI, MRI, EEG, MEG

This chapter provides a comprehensive survey of the motivations, assumptions and pitfalls associated with combining signals such as fMRI with EEG or MEG. Our initial focus in the chapter concerns mathematical approaches for solving the localization problem in EEG and MEG. Next we document the most recent and promising ways in which these signals can be combined with fMRI. Specically, we look at correlative analysis, decomposition techniques, equivalent dipole tting, distributed sources modeling, beamforming, and Bayesian methods. Due to difculties in assessing ground truth of a combined signal in any realistic experiment difculty further confounded by lack of accurate biophysical models of BOLD signal we are cautious to be optimistic about multimodal integration. Nonetheless, as we highlight and explore the technical and methodological difculties of fusing heterogeneous signals, it seems likely that correct fusion of multimodal data will allow previously inaccessible spatiotemporal structures to be visualized and formalized and thus eventually become a useful tool in brain imaging research

A Statistical Approach to the Alignment of fMRI Data

Multi-subject functional Magnetic Resonance Image studies are critical. The anatomical and functional structure varies across subjects, so the image alignment is necessary. We define a probabilistic model to describe functional alignment. Imposing a prior distribution, as the matrix Fisher Von Mises distribution, of the orthogonal transformation parameter, the anatomical information is embedded in the estimation of the parameters, i.e., penalizing the combination of spatially distant voxels. Real applications show an improvement in the classification and interpretability of the results compared to various functional alignment methods

Fusion of functional brain imaging modalities via linear programming.

Proposed method makes a number of simplifying assumptions which convert the EEG/FMRI integration problem into optimization of a convex function, of a form amenable to efficient solution as a very sparse linear programming (LP) problem. The assumptions made in doing this are, surprisingly, in general somewhat more robust than those generally used to cast EEG/FMRI integration as optimization of a non-convex function not amenable to efficient global optimization. This is because the L1 norm used here corresponds to a more robust statistical estimator than the L2 normal generally used For this reason, even though this technique results in a tractable global optimization, it is more robust to non-Gaussian noise and outliers than approaches that make the Gaussian noise assumption [1]. Current poster presents formulation of the problem together with results obtained on artificial data

Data Sharing in Neuroimaging Research

Significant resources around the world have been invested in neuroimaging studies of brain function and disease. Easier access to this large body of work should have profound impact on research in cognitive neuroscience and psychiatry, leading to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and neurological disease. A trend toward increased sharing of neuroimaging data has emerged in recent years. Nevertheless, a number of barriers continue to impede momentum. Many researchers and institutions remain uncertain about how to share data or lack the tools and expertise to participate in data sharing. The use of electronic data capture (EDC) methods for neuroimaging greatly simplifies the task of data collection and has the potential to help standardize many aspects of data sharing. We review here the motivations for sharing neuroimaging data, the current data sharing landscape, and the sociological or technical barriers that still need to be addressed. The INCF Task Force on Neuroimaging Datasharing, in conjunction with several collaborative groups around the world, has started work on several tools to ease and eventually automate the practice of data sharing. It is hoped that such tools will allow researchers to easily share raw, processed, and derived neuroimaging data, with appropriate metadata and provenance records, and will improve the reproducibility of neuroimaging studies. By providing seamless integration of data sharing and analysis tools within a commodity research environment, the Task Force seeks to identify and minimize barriers to data sharing in the field of neuroimaging

Neural Responses to Naturalistic Clips of Behaving Animals Under Two Different Task Contexts

The human brain rapidly deploys semantic information during perception to facilitate our interaction with the world. These semantic representations are encoded in the activity of distributed populations of neurons (Haxby et al., 2001; McClelland and Rogers, 2003; Kriegeskorte et al., 2008b) and command widespread cortical real estate (Binder et al., 2009; Huth et al., 2012). The neural representation of a stimulus can be described as a location (i.e., response vector) in a high-dimensional neural representational space (Kriegeskorte and Kievit, 2013; Haxby et al., 2014). This resonates with behavioral and theoretical work describing mental representations of objects and actions as being organized in a multidimensional psychological space (Attneave, 1950; Shepard, 1958, 1987; Edelman, 1998; Gärdenfors and Warglien, 2012). Current applications of this framework to neural representation (e.g., Kriegeskorte et al., 2008b) often implicitly assume that these neural representational spaces are relatively fixed and context-invariant. In contrast, earlier work emphasized the importance of attention and task demands in actively reshaping representational space (Shepard, 1964; Tversky, 1977; Nosofsky, 1986; Kruschke, 1992). A growing body of work in both electrophysiology (e.g., Sigala and Logothetis, 2002; Sigala, 2004; Cohen and Maunsell, 2009; Reynolds and Heeger, 2009) and human neuroimaging (e.g., Hon et al., 2009; Jehee et al., 2011; Brouwer and Heeger, 2013; Çukur et al., 2013; Sprague and Serences, 2013; Harel et al., 2014; Erez and Duncan, 2015; Nastase et al., 2017) has suggested mechanisms by which behavioral goals dynamically alter neural representation

Processing of invisible social cues.

AbstractSuccessful interactions between people are dependent on rapid recognition of social cues. We investigated whether head direction – a powerful social signal – is processed in the absence of conscious awareness. We used continuous flash interocular suppression to render stimuli invisible and compared the reaction time for face detection when faces were turned towards the viewer and turned slightly away. We found that faces turned towards the viewer break through suppression faster than faces that are turned away, regardless of eye direction. Our results suggest that detection of a face with attention directed at the viewer occurs even in the absence of awareness of that face. While previous work has demonstrated that stimuli that signal threat are processed without awareness, our data suggest that the social relevance of a face, defined more broadly, is evaluated in the absence of awareness