Connectome sorting by consensus clustering increases separability in group neuroimaging studies

A fundamental challenge in preprocessing pipelines for neuroimaging datasets is to increase the signal-to-noise ratio for subsequent analyses. In the same line, we suggest here that the application of the consensus clustering approach to brain connectivity matrices can be a valid additional step for...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Javier Rasero, Ibai Diez, Jesus M. Cortes, Daniele Marinazzo, Sebastiano Stramaglia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The MIT Press 2019-02-01
Series:Network Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/netn_a_00074
Description
Summary:A fundamental challenge in preprocessing pipelines for neuroimaging datasets is to increase the signal-to-noise ratio for subsequent analyses. In the same line, we suggest here that the application of the consensus clustering approach to brain connectivity matrices can be a valid additional step for connectome processing to find subgroups of subjects with reduced intragroup variability and therefore increasing the separability of the distinct subgroups when connectomes are used as a biomarker. Moreover, by partitioning the data with consensus clustering before any group comparison (for instance, between a healthy population vs. a pathological one), we demonstrate that unique regions within each cluster arise and bring new information that could be relevant from a clinical point of view.
ISSN:2472-1751