@article {822, title = {An evaluation of independent component analyses with an application to resting-state fMRI.}, journal = {Biometrics}, volume = {70}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Mar}, pages = {224-36}, abstract = {

We examine differences between independent component analyses (ICAs) arising from different assumptions, measures of dependence, and starting points of the algorithms. ICA is a popular method with diverse applications including artifact removal in electrophysiology data, feature extraction in microarray data, and identifying brain networks in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). ICA can be viewed as a generalization of principal component analysis (PCA) that takes into account higher-order cross-correlations. Whereas the PCA solution is unique, there are many ICA methods-whose solutions may differ. Infomax, FastICA, and JADE are commonly applied to fMRI studies, with FastICA being arguably the most popular. Hastie and Tibshirani (2003) demonstrated that ProDenICA outperformed FastICA in simulations with two components. We introduce the application of ProDenICA to simulations with more components and to fMRI data. ProDenICA was more accurate in simulations, and we identified differences between biologically meaningful ICs from ProDenICA versus other methods in the fMRI analysis. ICA methods require nonconvex optimization, yet current practices do not recognize the importance of, nor adequately address sensitivity to, initial values. We found that local optima led to dramatically different estimates in both simulations and group ICA of fMRI, and we provide evidence that the global optimum from ProDenICA is the best estimate. We applied a modification of the Hungarian (Kuhn-Munkres) algorithm to match ICs from multiple estimates, thereby gaining novel insights into how brain networks vary in their sensitivity to initial values and ICA method.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Algorithms, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, brain mapping, Child, Child, Preschool, Computer Simulation, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Models, Statistical, Principal Component Analysis}, issn = {1541-0420}, doi = {10.1111/biom.12111}, author = {Risk, Benjamin B and Matteson, David S and Ruppert, David and Eloyan, Ani and Caffo, Brian S} } @article {828, title = {Axial 3D gradient-echo imaging for improved multiple sclerosis lesion detection in the cervical spinal cord at 3T.}, journal = {Neuroradiology}, volume = {55}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Mar}, pages = {431-9}, abstract = {

INTRODUCTION: In multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord imaging can help in diagnosis and follow-up evaluation. However, spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is technically challenging, and image quality, particularly in the axial plane, is typically poor compared to brain MRI. Because gradient-recalled echo (GRE) images might offer improved contrast resolution within the spinal cord at high magnetic field strength, both without and with a magnetization transfer prepulse, we compared them to T2-weighted fast-spin-echo (T2-FSE) images for the detection of MS lesions in the cervical cord at 3T.

METHODS: On a clinical 3T MRI scanner, we studied 62 MS cases and 19 healthy volunteers. Axial 3D GRE sequences were performed without and with off-resonance radiofrequency irradiation. To mimic clinical practice, all images were evaluated in conjunction with linked images from a sagittal short tau inversion recovery scan, which is considered the gold standard for lesion detection in MS. Two experienced observers recorded image quality, location and size of focal lesions, atrophy, swelling, and diffuse signal abnormality independently at first and then in consensus.

RESULTS: The number and volume of lesions detected with high confidence was more than three times as high on both GRE sequences compared to T2-FSE (p < 0.0001). Approximately 5 \% of GRE scans were affected by artifacts that interfered with image interpretation, not significantly different from T2W-FSE.

CONCLUSIONS: Axial 3D GRE sequences are useful for MS lesion detection when compared to 2D T2-FSE sequences in the cervical spinal cord at 3T and should be considered when examining intramedullary spinal cord lesions.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Algorithms, Cervical Vertebrae, Echo-Planar Imaging, Female, Humans, Image Enhancement, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Male, Middle Aged, Multiple Sclerosis, Reproducibility of Results, Sensitivity and Specificity, Spinal Cord}, issn = {1432-1920}, doi = {10.1007/s00234-012-1118-5}, author = {Ozturk, Arzu and Aygun, Nafi and Smith, Seth A and Caffo, Brian and Calabresi, Peter A and Reich, Daniel S} } @article {824, title = {A decision-theory approach to interpretable set analysis for high-dimensional data.}, journal = {Biometrics}, volume = {69}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Sep}, pages = {614-23}, abstract = {

A key problem in high-dimensional significance analysis is to find pre-defined sets that show enrichment for a statistical signal of interest; the classic example is the enrichment of gene sets for differentially expressed genes. Here, we propose a new decision-theory approach to the analysis of gene sets which focuses on estimating the fraction of non-null variables in a set. We introduce the idea of "atoms," non-overlapping sets based on the original pre-defined set annotations. Our approach focuses on finding the union of atoms that minimizes a weighted average of the number of false discoveries and missed discoveries. We introduce a new false discovery rate for sets, called the atomic false discovery rate (afdr), and prove that the optimal estimator in our decision-theory framework is to threshold the afdr. These results provide a coherent and interpretable framework for the analysis of sets that addresses the key issues of overlapping annotations and difficulty in interpreting p values in both competitive and self-contained tests. We illustrate our method and compare it to a popular existing method using simulated examples, as well as gene-set and brain ROI data analyses.

}, keywords = {Algorithms, Bayes Theorem, Biometry, Brain, Computer Simulation, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Decision Theory, Functional Neuroimaging, Gene Expression Profiling, Genomics, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Models, Statistical, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis}, issn = {1541-0420}, doi = {10.1111/biom.12060}, author = {Boca, Simina M and Bravo, H{\'e}ctor C{\'e}orrada and Caffo, Brian and Leek, Jeffrey T and Parmigiani, Giovanni} } @article {812, title = {Likelihood-based population independent component analysis.}, journal = {Biostatistics}, volume = {14}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jul}, pages = {514-27}, abstract = {

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a widely used technique for blind source separation, used heavily in several scientific research areas including acoustics, electrophysiology, and functional neuroimaging. We propose a scalable two-stage iterative true group ICA methodology for analyzing population level functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data where the number of subjects is very large. The method is based on likelihood estimators of the underlying source densities and the mixing matrix. As opposed to many commonly used group ICA algorithms, the proposed method does not require significant data reduction by a 2-fold singular value decomposition. In addition, the method can be applied to a large group of subjects since the memory requirements are not restrictive. The performance of our approach is compared with a commonly used group ICA algorithm via simulation studies. Furthermore, the proposed method is applied to a large collection of resting state fMRI datasets. The results show that established brain networks are well recovered by the proposed algorithm.

}, keywords = {Adult, Algorithms, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Biostatistics, Brain, Child, Computer Simulation, Databases, Factual, Humans, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Likelihood Functions, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Principal Component Analysis, Statistics, Nonparametric}, issn = {1468-4357}, doi = {10.1093/biostatistics/kxs055}, author = {Eloyan, Ani and Crainiceanu, Ciprian M and Caffo, Brian S} } @article {827, title = {Analysis of group ICA-based connectivity measures from fMRI: application to Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {7}, year = {2012}, month = {2012}, pages = {e49340}, abstract = {

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a powerful tool for the in vivo study of the pathophysiology of brain disorders and disease. In this manuscript, we propose an analysis stream for fMRI functional connectivity data and apply it to a novel study of Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease. In the first stage, spatial independent component analysis is applied to group fMRI data to obtain common brain networks (spatial maps) and subject-specific mixing matrices (time courses). In the second stage, functional principal component analysis is utilized to decompose the mixing matrices into population-level eigenvectors and subject-specific loadings. Inference is performed using permutation-based exact logistic regression for matched pairs data. The method is applied to a novel fMRI study of Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease risk under a verbal paired associates task. We found empirical evidence of alternative ICA-based metrics of connectivity when comparing subjects evidencing mild cognitive impairment relative to carefully matched controls.

}, keywords = {Aged, Algorithms, Alzheimer Disease, Brain, brain mapping, Case-Control Studies, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Nerve Net, Principal Component Analysis, Task Performance and Analysis, Time Factors}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0049340}, author = {Li, Shanshan and Eloyan, Ani and Joel, Suresh and Mostofsky, Stewart and Pekar, James and Bassett, Susan Spear and Caffo, Brian} } @article {842, title = {Dynamic connectivity regression: determining state-related changes in brain connectivity.}, journal = {Neuroimage}, volume = {61}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Jul 16}, pages = {907-20}, abstract = {

Most statistical analyses of fMRI data assume that the nature, timing and duration of the psychological processes being studied are known. However, often it is hard to specify this information a priori. In this work we introduce a data-driven technique for partitioning the experimental time course into distinct temporal intervals with different multivariate functional connectivity patterns between a set of regions of interest (ROIs). The technique, called Dynamic Connectivity Regression (DCR), detects temporal change points in functional connectivity and estimates a graph, or set of relationships between ROIs, for data in the temporal partition that falls between pairs of change points. Hence, DCR allows for estimation of both the time of change in connectivity and the connectivity graph for each partition, without requiring prior knowledge of the nature of the experimental design. Permutation and bootstrapping methods are used to perform inference on the change points. The method is applied to various simulated data sets as well as to an fMRI data set from a study (N=26) of a state anxiety induction using a socially evaluative threat challenge. The results illustrate the method{\textquoteright}s ability to observe how the networks between different brain regions changed with subjects{\textquoteright} emotional state.

}, keywords = {Algorithms, Brain, brain mapping, Computer Simulation, Emotions, Humans, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Neural Pathways}, issn = {1095-9572}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.03.070}, author = {Cribben, Ivor and Haraldsdottir, Ragnheidur and Atlas, Lauren Y and Wager, Tor D and Lindquist, Martin A} }