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Characterising group-level brain connectivity: A framework using Bayesian exponential random graph models.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Lehmann, BCL 
Henson, RN 
Geerligs, L 
Cam-Can 
White, SR 

Abstract

The brain can be modelled as a network with nodes and edges derived from a range of imaging modalities: the nodes correspond to spatially distinct regions and the edges to the interactions between them. Whole-brain connectivity studies typically seek to determine how network properties change with a given categorical phenotype such as age-group, disease condition or mental state. To do so reliably, it is necessary to determine the features of the connectivity structure that are common across a group of brain scans. Given the complex interdependencies inherent in network data, this is not a straightforward task. Some studies construct a group-representative network (GRN), ignoring individual differences, while other studies analyse networks for each individual independently, ignoring information that is shared across individuals. We propose a Bayesian framework based on exponential random graph models (ERGM) extended to multiple networks to characterise the distribution of an entire population of networks. Using resting-state fMRI data from the Cam-CAN project, a study on healthy ageing, we demonstrate how our method can be used to characterise and compare the brain's functional connectivity structure across a group of young individuals and a group of old individuals.

Description

Keywords

Bayesian ERGM, Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM), Fmri, Group studies, Network neuroscience, Bayes Theorem, Brain, Brain Mapping, Humans, Individuality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Models, Neurological, Models, Statistical, Nerve Net, Neural Pathways

Journal Title

Neuroimage

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1053-8119
1095-9572

Volume Title

225

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
MRC (unknown)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/H008217/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/R018561/1)
MRC (1185)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/8)
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