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An ANOVA approach for statistical comparisons of brain networks.

ABSTRACT: The study of brain networks has developed extensively over the last couple of decades. By contrast, techniques for the statistical analysis of these networks are less developed. In this paper, we focus on the statistical comparison of brain networks in a nonparametric framework and discuss the associated detection and identification problems. We tested network differences between groups with an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test we developed specifically for networks. We also propose and analyse the behaviour of a new statistical procedure designed to identify different subnetworks. As an example, we show the application of this tool in resting-state fMRI data obtained from the Human Connectome Project. We identify, among other variables, that the amount of sleep the days before the scan is a relevant variable that must be controlled. Finally, we discuss the potential bias in neuroimaging findings that is generated by some behavioural and brain structure variables. Our method can also be applied to other kind of networks such as protein interaction networks, gene networks or social networks.

SUBMITTER: Fraiman D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5856783 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An ANOVA approach for statistical comparisons of brain networks.

Fraiman Daniel D Fraiman Ricardo R

Scientific reports 20180316 1

The study of brain networks has developed extensively over the last couple of decades. By contrast, techniques for the statistical analysis of these networks are less developed. In this paper, we focus on the statistical comparison of brain networks in a nonparametric framework and discuss the associated detection and identification problems. We tested network differences between groups with an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test we developed specifically for networks. We also propose and analyse ...[more]

PMID: 29549369

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Project description:Network science has been extensively developed to characterize the structural properties of complex systems, including brain networks inferred from neuroimaging data. As a result of the inference process, networks estimated from experimentally obtained biological data represent one instance of a larger number of realizations with similar intrinsic topology. A modelling approach is therefore needed to support statistical inference on the bottom-up local connectivity mechanisms influencing the formation of the estimated brain networks. Here, we adopted a statistical model based on exponential random graph models (ERGMs) to reproduce brain networks, or connectomes, estimated by spectral coherence between high-density electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. ERGMs are made up by different local graph metrics, whereas the parameters weight the respective contribution in explaining the observed network. We validated this approach in a dataset of N = 108 healthy subjects during eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) resting-state conditions. Results showed that the tendency to form triangles and stars, reflecting clustering and node centrality, better explained the global properties of the EEG connectomes than other combinations of graph metrics. In particular, the synthetic networks generated by this model configuration replicated the characteristic differences found in real brain networks, with EO eliciting significantly higher segregation in the alpha frequency band (8-13 Hz) than EC. Furthermore, the fitted ERGM parameter values provided complementary information showing that clustering connections are significantly more represented from EC to EO in the alpha range, but also in the beta band (14-29 Hz), which is known to play a crucial role in cortical processing of visual input and externally oriented attention. Taken together, these findings support the current view of the functional segregation and integration of the brain in terms of modules and hubs, and provide a statistical approach to extract new information on the (re)organizational mechanisms in healthy and diseased brains.

Dataset Information

An ANOVA approach for statistical comparisons of brain networks.

Publications

An ANOVA approach for statistical comparisons of brain networks.

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