H-VIP: quantifying regional topological contributions of the brain network to cognition

Understanding the role of various brain regions of interest (ROIs) in various cognitive functions or tasks, across healthy or neurodegenerative conditions and multiple degrees of separation, remains a key challenge in neuroscience. Conventional network measures can only capture localized or quasi-localized features of brain ROIs. Topological data analysis (TDA), particularly persistent homology, provides a threshold-free, mathematically rigorous framework for identifying topologically salient features in complex networks. In this paper, we introduce a new metric, the Homological Vertex Importance Profile (H-VIP), designed to assess the relevance of vertices that participate in persistent topological structures (e.g., connected components, cycles or cavities) in brain networks. The H-VIP quantifies the topological features of the network at the ROI (node) level by compressing its higher-order connectivity profile using homological constructs.

Leveraging homological constructs of brain connectomes, we extend two of our previously defined network-level measures-average persistence and persistence entropy-to an ROI-level measure, i.e., the H-VIP. We then applied the H-VIP to two independent datasets: structural connectomes from the Human Connectome Project and functional connectomes from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Persistent homology was computed for each network, and H-VIP scores were derived to evaluate vertex-level contributions. Finally, H-VIP scores were used for the prediction of multiple cognitive measures.

In both anatomical and functional brain networks, H-VIP values demonstrate predictive power for various cognitive measures. Notably, the connectivity of the frontal lobe exhibited stronger correlations with cognitive performance than the whole-brain network.

H-VIP offers a robust and interpretable means to locate, quantify, and visualize region-specific contributions to network's topological, higher-order landscape. Its ability to detect potentially impaired connectivity at the individual level suggests possible applications in personalized medicine for neurological diseases and disorders. Beyond brain connectomics, the H-VIP can be used for other types of complex networks where topological features are of importance, such as financial, social, or ecological networks.