Identifying Brain Networks at Multiple Time Scales via Deep Recurrent Neural Network

• Published in: IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics Vol. 23; no. 6; pp. 2515 - 2525
• Main Authors: Cui, Yan, Zhao, Shijie, Wang, Han, Xie, Li, Chen, Yaowu, Han, Junwei, Guo, Lei, Zhou, Fan, Liu, Tianming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.11.2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain architecture; Brain mapping; Brain modeling; brain network; Connectome; Data models; Deep learning; Dependence; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Independent component analysis; Learning algorithms; Machine learning; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Modelling; Nerve Net - diagnostic imaging; Network analysis; Neural networks; Neural Networks, Computer; Neuroimaging; Recurrent neural networks; RNN; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Structural hierarchy; Task analysis; Task fMRI; Task Performance and Analysis; Time
• ISSN: 2168-2194; 2168-2208; 2168-2208
• DOI: 10.1109/JBHI.2018.2882885

For decades, task functional magnetic resonance imaging has been a powerful noninvasive tool to explore the organizational architecture of human brain function. Researchers have developed a variety of brain network analysis methods for task fMRI data, including the general linear model, independent component analysis, and sparse representation methods. However, these shallow models are limited in faithful reconstruction and modeling of the hierarchical and temporal structures of brain networks, as demonstrated in more and more studies. Recently, recurrent neural networks (RNNs) exhibit great ability of modeling hierarchical and temporal dependence features in the machine learning field, which might be suitable for task fMRI data modeling. To explore such possible advantages of RNNs for task fMRI data, we propose a novel framework of a deep recurrent neural network (DRNN) to model the functional brain networks from task fMRI data. Experimental results on the motor task fMRI data of Human Connectome Project 900 subjects release demonstrated that the proposed DRNN can not only faithfully reconstruct functional brain networks, but also identify more meaningful brain networks with multiple time scales which are overlooked by traditional shallow models. In general, this work provides an effective and powerful approach to identifying functional brain networks at multiple time scales from task fMRI data.