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Generating synthetic task-based brain fingerprints for population neuroscience using deep learning
Emin Serin1,2,3, Kerstin Ritter4, Gunter Schumann5,6
1Research Division of Mind and Brain, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany. emin.serin@charite.de.
DeepTaskGen synthesizes task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) contrast maps from resting-state fMRI data. This deep learning method enables large-scale analysis of cognitive function and biomarker discovery.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Artificial Intelligence
Background:
- Task-based fMRI reveals neural differences in cognition but faces scalability issues in large datasets.
- Current methods struggle with high cognitive demands, protocol variations, and limited task coverage.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a deep learning method, DeepTaskGen, for synthesizing task-based fMRI contrast maps from resting-state fMRI data.
- To enable large-scale studies of individual cognitive differences and biomarker generation.
Main Methods:
- Proposed DeepTaskGen, a deep learning model to generate task-contrast maps from resting-state fMRI.
- Validated using Human Connectome Project lifespan data.
- Generated 47 contrast maps for 7 cognitive tasks in over 20,000 UK Biobank participants.
Main Results:
- DeepTaskGen outperformed benchmarks in synthesizing task-contrast maps, showing superior reconstruction.
- Preserved inter-individual variation crucial for biomarker development.
- Synthetic maps achieved comparable or superior predictive performance for demographic, cognitive, and clinical variables.
Conclusions:
- DeepTaskGen facilitates the study of individual differences in cognitive function using readily available resting-state fMRI.
- Enables the generation of task-related biomarkers at scale.
- Advances neuroimaging research by overcoming limitations of traditional task-based fMRI.
