Dataset Information

Evaluation of node-inhomogeneity effects on the functional brain network properties using an anatomy-constrained hierarchical brain parcellation.

ABSTRACT: To investigate functional brain networks, many graph-theoretical studies have defined nodes in a graph using an anatomical atlas with about a hundred partitions. Although use of anatomical node definition is popular due to its convenience, functional inhomogeneity within each node may lead to bias or systematic errors in the graph analysis. The current study was aimed to show functional inhomogeneity of a node defined by an anatomical atlas and to show its effects on the graph topology. For this purpose, we compared functional connectivity defined using 138 resting state fMRI data among 90 cerebral nodes from the automated anatomical labeling (AAL), which is an anatomical atlas, and among 372 cerebral nodes defined using a functional connectivity-based atlas as a ground truth, which was obtained using anatomy-constrained hierarchical modularity optimization algorithm (AHMO) that we proposed to evaluate the graph properties for anatomically defined nodes. We found that functional inhomogeneity in the anatomical parcellation induced significant biases in estimating both functional connectivity and graph-theoretical network properties. We also found very high linearity in major global network properties and nodal strength at all brain regions between anatomical atlas and functional atlas with reasonable network-forming thresholds for graph construction. However, some nodal properties such as betweenness centrality did not show significant linearity in some regions. The current study suggests that the use of anatomical atlas may be biased due to its inhomogeneity, but may generally be used in most neuroimaging studies when a single atlas is used for analysis.

SUBMITTER: Park B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3776746 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evaluation of node-inhomogeneity effects on the functional brain network properties using an anatomy-constrained hierarchical brain parcellation.

Park Bumhee B Ko Jeong Hoon JH Lee Jong Doo JD Park Hae-Jeong HJ

PloS one 20130918 9

To investigate functional brain networks, many graph-theoretical studies have defined nodes in a graph using an anatomical atlas with about a hundred partitions. Although use of anatomical node definition is popular due to its convenience, functional inhomogeneity within each node may lead to bias or systematic errors in the graph analysis. The current study was aimed to show functional inhomogeneity of a node defined by an anatomical atlas and to show its effects on the graph topology. For this ...[more]

PMID: 24058640

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Project description:Recordings of ongoing neural activity with EEG and MEG exhibit oscillations of specific frequencies over a non-oscillatory background. The oscillations appear in the power spectrum as a collection of frequency bands that are evenly spaced on a logarithmic scale, thereby preventing mutual entrainment and cross-talk. Over the last few years, experimental, computational and theoretical studies have made substantial progress on our understanding of the biophysical mechanisms underlying the generation of network oscillations and their interactions, with emphasis on the role of neuronal synchronization. In this paper we ask a very different question. Rather than investigating how brain rhythms emerge, or whether they are necessary for neural function, we focus on what they tell us about functional brain connectivity. We hypothesized that if we were able to construct abstract networks, or "virtual brains", whose dynamics were similar to EEG/MEG recordings, those networks would share structural features among themselves, and also with real brains. Applying mathematical techniques for inverse problems, we have reverse-engineered network architectures that generate characteristic dynamics of actual brains, including spindles and sharp waves, which appear in the power spectrum as frequency bands superimposed on a non-oscillatory background dominated by low frequencies. We show that all reconstructed networks display similar topological features (e.g. structural motifs) and dynamics. We have also reverse-engineered putative diseased brains (epileptic and schizophrenic), in which the oscillatory activity is altered in different ways, as reported in clinical studies. These reconstructed networks show consistent alterations of functional connectivity and dynamics. In particular, we show that the complexity of the network, quantified as proposed by Tononi, Sporns and Edelman, is a good indicator of brain fitness, since virtual brains modeling diseased states display lower complexity than virtual brains modeling normal neural function. We finally discuss the implications of our results for the neurobiology of health and disease.

Dataset Information

Evaluation of node-inhomogeneity effects on the functional brain network properties using an anatomy-constrained hierarchical brain parcellation.

Publications

Evaluation of node-inhomogeneity effects on the functional brain network properties using an anatomy-constrained hierarchical brain parcellation.

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