Multiple functional connectivity networks fusion for schizophrenia diagnosis

Accurate diagnosis of schizophrenia is of great importance to patients and clinicians. Recent studies have found that different frequency bands contain complementary information for diagnosis and prognosis. However, conventional multiple frequency functional connectivity (FC) networks using Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC) are usually based on pairwise correlations among different brain regions on single frequency band, while ignoring the interactions between regions in different frequency bands, the relationship among different networks, and the nonlinear properties of blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal. To take into account these relationships, we propose in this study a multiple networks fusion method for schizophrenia diagnosis. Specifically, we first construct FC networks within the same and across frequency from the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) time series by using extended maximal information coefficient (eMIC) based on four frequency bands: slow-5 (0.01-0.027 Hz), slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz), slow-3 (0.073-0.198 Hz), and slow-2 (0.198-0.25 Hz). Then, these networks are combined nonlinearly through network fusion, which generates a unified network for each subject. Features extracted from the unified network are used for final classification. Experimental results demonstrated that the interaction between distinct brain regions across different frequency bands can significantly improve the classification performance, comparing with conventional FC analysis based on specific or entire low-frequency band. The promising results suggest that our proposed framework would be a useful tool in computer-aided diagnosis of schizophrenia. Graphical abstract The flowchart of proposed classification framework.