Applying fMRI complexity analyses to the single subject: a case study for proposed neurodiagnostics

Nonlinear dynamic tools have been statistically validated at the group level to identify subtle differences in system wide regulation of brain meso-circuits, often increasing clinical sensitivity over conventional analyses alone. We explored the feasibility of extracting information at the single-subject level, illustrating two pairs of healthy individuals with psychological differences in stress reactivity. We applied statistical and nonlinear dynamic tools to capture key characteristics of the prefrontal-limbic loop. We compared single subject results with statistical results for the larger group. We concluded that complexity analyses may identify important differences at the single-subject level, supporting their potential towards neurodiagnostic applications.