Discriminative Analysis of Schizophrenia Patients Using Topological Properties of Structural and Functional Brain Networks: A Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Interest in the application of machine learning (ML) techniques to multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for the diagnosis of schizophrenia (SZ) at the individual level is growing. However, a few studies have applied the features of structural and functional brain networks derived from multimodal MRI data to the discriminative analysis of SZ patients at different clinical stages. In this study, 205 normal controls (NCs), 61 first-episode drug-naive SZ (FESZ) patients, and 79 chronic SZ (CSZ) patients were recruited. We acquired their structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and resting-state functional MRI data and constructed brain networks for each participant, including the gray matter network (GMN), white matter network (WMN), and functional brain network (FBN). We then calculated 3 nodal properties for each brain network, including degree centrality, nodal efficiency, and betweenness centrality. Two classifications (SZ vs. NC and FESZ vs. CSZ) were performed using five ML algorithms. We found that the SVM classifier with the input features of the combination of nodal properties of both the GMN and FBN achieved the best performance to discriminate SZ patients from NCs [accuracy, 81.2%; area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), 85.2%; p < 0.05]. Moreover, the SVM classifier with the input features of the combination of the nodal properties of both the GMN and WMN achieved the best performance to discriminate FESZ from CSZ patients (accuracy, 86.2%; AUC, 92.3%; p < 0.05). Furthermore, the brain areas in the subcortical/cerebellum network and the frontoparietal network showed significant importance in both classifications. Together, our findings provide new insights to understand the neuropathology of SZ and further highlight the potential advantages of multimodal network properties for identifying SZ patients at different clinical stages.

A discriminative analysis framework for multi-modal information fusion

Since multi-modal data contain rich information about the semantics presented in the sensory and media data, valid interpretation and integration of multi-modal information is recognized as a central issue for the successful utilization of multimedia in a wide range of applications. Thus, multi-modal information analysis is becoming an increasingly important research topic in the multimedia community. However, the effective integration of multi-modal information is a difficult problem, facing major challenges in the identification and extraction of complementary and discriminatory features, and the impactful fusion of information from multiple channels. In order to address the challenges, in this thesis, we propose a discriminative analysis framework (DAF) for high performance multi-modal information fusion. The proposed framework has two realizations. We first introduce Discriminative Multiple Canonical Correlation Analysis (DMCCA) as the fusion component of the framework. DMCCA is capable of extracting more discriminative characteristics from multi-modal information. We demonstrate that optimal performance by DMCCA can be analytically and graphically verified, and Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), Multiple Canonical Correlation Analysis (MCCA) and Discriminative Canonical Correlation Analysis (DCCA) are special cases of DMCCA, thus establishing a unified framework for canonical correlation analysis. To further enhance the performance of discriminative analysis in multi-modal information fusion, Kernel Entropy Component Analysis (KECA) is brought in to analyze the projected vectors in DMCCA space, and thus forming the second realization of the framework. By doing so, not only the discriminative relation is considered in DMCCA space, but also the inherent complementary representation of the input data is revealed by entropy estimation, leading to better utilization of the multi-modal information and better pattern recognition performance. Finally, we implement a prototype of the proposed DAF to demonstrate its performance in handwritten digit recognition, face recognition and human emotion recognition. Extensive experiments show that the proposed framework outperforms the existing methods based on similar principles, clearly demonstrating the generic nature of the framework. Furthermore, this work offers a promising direction to design advanced multi-modal information fusion systems with great potential to impact the development of intelligent human computer interaction systems.

A discriminative analysis framework for multi-modal information fusion

Since multi-modal data contain rich information about the semantics presented in the sensory and media data, valid interpretation and integration of multi-modal information is recognized as a central issue for the successful utilization of multimedia in a wide range of applications. Thus, multi-modal information analysis is becoming an increasingly important research topic in the multimedia community. However, the effective integration of multi-modal information is a difficult problem, facing major challenges in the identification and extraction of complementary and discriminatory features, and the impactful fusion of information from multiple channels. In order to address the challenges, in this thesis, we propose a discriminative analysis framework (DAF) for high performance multi-modal information fusion. The proposed framework has two realizations. We first introduce Discriminative Multiple Canonical Correlation Analysis (DMCCA) as the fusion component of the framework. DMCCA is capable of extracting more discriminative characteristics from multi-modal information. We demonstrate that optimal performance by DMCCA can be analytically and graphically verified, and Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), Multiple Canonical Correlation Analysis (MCCA) and Discriminative Canonical Correlation Analysis (DCCA) are special cases of DMCCA, thus establishing a unified framework for canonical correlation analysis. To further enhance the performance of discriminative analysis in multi-modal information fusion, Kernel Entropy Component Analysis (KECA) is brought in to analyze the projected vectors in DMCCA space, and thus forming the second realization of the framework. By doing so, not only the discriminative relation is considered in DMCCA space, but also the inherent complementary representation of the input data is revealed by entropy estimation, leading to better utilization of the multi-modal information and better pattern recognition performance. Finally, we implement a prototype of the proposed DAF to demonstrate its performance in handwritten digit recognition, face recognition and human emotion recognition. Extensive experiments show that the proposed framework outperforms the existing methods based on similar principles, clearly demonstrating the generic nature of the framework. Furthermore, this work offers a promising direction to design advanced multi-modal information fusion systems with great potential to impact the development of intelligent human computer interaction systems.

Personal characteristics as predictors of professional thinking of cadets of the military educational institution of the national guard of the Russian Federation

Problem and purpose. The relevance of the study is due to the specifics of military education, which is characterized by increased requirements for the training of future officers. A special place among these requirements is occupied by professional thinking, the formation of which presupposes both intellectual and certain personal characteristics. The purpose is to determine the prognostic capabilities of personal characteristics for the differentiation of types of professional thinking of cadets of a military educational institution of the National Guard of the Russian Federation. Research methodology and methods. According to the diagnostic results, all cadets (N = 150) were divided into three groups according to the prevalence of a certain level of professional thinking in them; 1) oversituational type of thinking, 2) situational type of thinking, and 3) mixed type of thinking. This variable acted as a response in discriminative analysis, and personality traits of cadets, measured by the 16 PF method, and a number of other questionnaires were chosen as predictors. Research results. The results of direct discriminative analysis indicate a high statistical significance of the empirical model (p = 0.000), having good discrimination (λ = 0.04), consisting of two discriminative functions and 16 predictors. All respondents were absolutely correctly assigned to their «own» groups (100%). At the same time, the highest probability of getting into «their» group is for servicemen with a oversituational type level of professional thinking (82%). Discussion of results and conclusion. The predictive influence of personal qualities on the dominance of cadets of a certain type of professional thinking does not have a separate effect of each quality, but has the character of structural interaction. This research contributes to the psychology of work, contributing to the expansion of scientific knowledge about the professional activities of the military.