基于Kendall改进的同步算法癫痫脑网络分析

提出了一种基于Kendall等级相关改进的同步算法IRC(inverse rank correlation).Kendall等级相关是非线性动力学分析的一般化算法,可有效地度量变量间的非线性相关性.复杂网络的研究已逐渐深入到社会科学的各个领域,脑网络的研究已经成为当今脑功能研究的热点.利用改进的IRC算法,基于脑电EEG(electroencephalogram)数据来构建大脑功能性网络.对构建的脑功能网络的度指标进行了分析,以调查癫痫脑功能网络是否异于正常人.结果显示:使用该改进的算法能够对癫痫和正常脑功能网络显著区分,且只需要记录很短的脑电数据.实验结果数据表明,该方法适用于区分癫痫和正常脑组织网络度指标,它可有助于进一步地加深对大脑的神经动力学行为的研究,并为临床诊断提供有效工具.     

基于复杂度的针刺脑电信号特征提取

为探究针灸刺激对大脑活动产生的影响,文章设计了4种针刺频率针刺右腿足三里穴获取脑电的实验.首次采用排序递归图和关联维数方法提取针刺脑电信号的复杂度参数来反映针刺大脑的功能状态,并基于这些方法研究了针刺作用对大脑功能区域的影响以及不同针刺频率与脑电复杂度的相关性.发现针刺时脑电的复杂度高于针刺前,尤以频率为100次/min的针刺影响最为明显;从FP2, F7, T3导联脑电中提取的确定性指标(DET)可作为区分针刺状态与针刺前状态的一种特征参数. 关键词： 针灸 脑电 排序递归图 关联维数     

基于复杂网络理论的北京公交网络拓扑性质分析

为分析公交复杂网络的拓扑性质, 本文以北京市为例, 选取截止到2010年7月的北京全市(14区、2县)的1165条公交线路和9618个公交站点为样本数据, 运用复杂网络理论构建起基于邻接站点的有向加权复杂网络模型. 该方法以公交站点作为节点, 相邻站点之间的公交线路作为边, 使得网络既具有复杂网络的拓扑性质同时节点(站点)又具有明确的地理坐标. 对网络中节点度、点强度、强度分布、平均最短路径、聚类系数等性质的分析显示, 公交复杂网络的度和点强度分布极为不均, 网络中前5%和前10%节点的累计强度分布分别达到22.43%和43.02%; 点强度与排列序数、累积强度分布都服从幂律分布, 具有无标度和小世界的网络特点, 少数关键节点在网络中发挥着重要的连接作用. 为分析复杂网络中的关键节点, 本文通过承载压力分析和基于"掠夺" 的区域中心节点提取两种方法, 得到了公交复杂网络中两类不同表现的关键节点. 这些规律也为优化城市公交网络及交通规划发展提供了新的参考建议.     

时变动态贝叶斯网络模型及其在皮层脑电网络连接中的应用

大脑执行语言的发音需要顶叶、颞叶、额叶等多个脑区协同完成.皮层脑电具有高时间分辨率、较高空间分辨率和高信噪比等优势,为研究大脑的电生理特性提供了重要的技术手段.为了探索大脑对语言的动态处理过程,利用多尺度皮层脑电(标准电极与微电极)分析了被试在执行音节朗读任务时的皮层脑电信号的高频gamma段特征,提出采用时变动态贝叶斯网络构建单次实验任务的有向网络.结果显示该方法能够快速有效地构建语言任务过程中标准电极、微电极以及二者之间的有向网络连接,且反映了大规模网络(标准电极之间的连接)、局部网络(微电极之间的连接)以及大规模网络与局部网络之间的连接(标准电极与微电极之间的连接)随语言任务发生的动态改变.研究还发现,发音时刻之前与之后的网络连接存在显著性差异,且发音方式不同的音节网络间也存在明显差异.该研究将有助于癫痫等神经疾病的术前临床评估以及理解大脑对语言加工的实时处理过程.     

基于脑电图的大脑功能性网络分析

利用脑电图数据建立了大脑功能性网络.分析了该网络的复杂网络统计特征，发现它的聚类系数远大于相应随机网络，明显具有小世界网络的特征，其度分布也接近于无标度网络.进一步验证了大脑功能性网络的复杂网络特性，发现患者的各项复杂网络特征指数与正常人相比有明显不同.定义了大脑神经网络信息熵及神经网络标准信息熵的概念，发现脑病患者的大脑神经网络信息熵明显小于正常人.从一个全新的角度量度了大脑的复杂网络特征，并提示了临床脑病诊疗的判断依据. 关键词： 脑电图 大脑功能性网络 复杂网络统计特征 信息熵     

一种基于文本互信息的金融复杂网络模型

复杂网络能够解决许多金融问题,能够发现金融市场的拓扑结构特征,反映不同金融主体之间的相互依赖关系.相关性度量在金融复杂网络构建中至关重要.通过将多元金融时间序列符号化,借鉴文本特征提取以及信息论的方法,定义了一种基于文本互信息的相关系数.为检验方法的有效性,分别构建了基于不同相关系数(Pearson和文本互信息)和不同网络缩减方法(阈值和最小生成树)的4个金融复杂网络模型.在阈值网络中提出了使用分位数来确定阈值的方法,将相关系数6等分,取第4部分的中点作为阈值,此时基于Pearson和文本互信息的阈值模型将会有相近的边数,有利于这两种模型的对比.数据使用了沪深两地证券市场地区指数收盘价,时间从2006年1月4日至2016年12月30日,共计2673个交易日.从网络节点相关性看,基于文本互信息的方法能够体现出大约20%的非线性相关关系;在网络整体拓扑指标上,本文计算了4种指标,结果显示能够使所保留的节点联系更为紧密,有效提高保留节点的重要性以及挖掘出更好的社区结构;最后,计算了阈值网络的动态指标,将数据按年分别构建网络,缩减方法只用了阈值方法,结果显示本文提出的方法在小世界动态和网络度中心性等指标上能够成功捕捉到样本区间内存在的两次异常波动.此外,本文构建的地区金融网络具有服从幂律分布、动态稳定性、一些经济欠发达地区在金融地区网络中占据重要地位等特性.     

脑磁场的测量与分析

当代对大脑的研究主要分为两个方面:从微观上研究单神经元和亚细包元;从宏观上研究较复杂的、包括行为在内的大脑功能.本文介绍一种研究大脑的介于两者之间的手段——脑磁成象术(MEG),它反映了在细胞结构范围内的脑皮层神经群的活动.由于它对大脑无危害,因而被认为是一种很有前途的人脑功能研究手段. 近十年来,许多新方法被用于人脑的研究,计算机辅助的断层X射线照相术(CT)和磁共振成象(MRI)可精确地研究脑的解剖结构.局部脑血流测量(RCBF)和正电子发射断层成象术(PET)可得到有关脑功能的信息.但是,由于X射线、随时间变化的磁场梯度…     

基于多路可视图的健康与心梗患者心电图信号复杂网络识别

可视图(visibility graph, VG)算法已被证明是将时间序列转换为复杂网络的简单且高效的方法,其构成的复杂网络在拓扑结构中继承了原始时间序列的动力学特性.目前,单维时间序列的可视图分析已趋于成熟,但应用于复杂系统时,单变量往往无法描述系统的全局特征.本文提出一种新的多元时间序列分析方法,将心梗和健康人的12导联心电图(electrocardiograph, ECG)信号转换为多路可视图,以每个导联为一个节点,两个导联构成可视图的层间互信息为连边权重,将其映射到复杂网络.由于不同人群的全连通网络表现为完全相同的拓扑结构,无法唯一表征不同个体的动力学特征,根据层间互信息大小重构网络,提取权重度和加权聚类系数,实现对不同人群12导联ECG信号的识别.为判断序列长度对识别效果的影响,引入多尺度权重度分布熵.由于健康受试者拥有更高的平均权重度和平均加权聚类系数,其映射网络表现为更加规则的结构、更高的复杂性和连接性,可以与心梗患者进行区分,两个参数的识别准确率均达到93.3%.     

人脑默认模式网络的动力学行为

大脑具有自适应、自组织、多稳态等重要特征,是典型的复杂系统.人脑在静息态下的关键功能子网络--默认模式网络(DMN)的激活处于多状态间持续跳转的非平衡过程,揭示该过程背后的动力学机制具有重要的科学意义和临床应用前景.本文基于功能磁共振获得的血氧水平依赖(BOLD)信号,建立了DMN吸引子跳转非平衡过程的能量图景、吸引子非联通图、跳转关系网络等;以高级视觉皮层和听觉等皮层活动为例,通过对应激活DMN状态空间的分布,以及XGBoost、深度神经网络等算法验证了DMN状态变化与外部脑区状态的密切依赖关系;通过偏相关、收敛交叉映射等方法分析了DMN内各个脑区之间的相互作用.本文结果有助于理解静息态下大脑内在非平衡过程的动力学机制,以及从动力学的角度探索具有临床意义的脑功能障碍生物标志物.     

静息状态下脑功能连接的磁共振成像研究

静息状态下脑功能连接的磁共振成像研究近年来取得了迅猛发展. 通过对fMRI信号低频涨落成分的同步性分析,可以得到大脑静息态任意脑区的功能连接和多套网络系统,其中“默认网络”的发现可能为人脑固有网络的研究提供新的思路. 而静息态网络与解剖连接之间可能存在的对应,以及在神经精神疾病患者脑中性质和连接的异常改变,使其具有重要的研究和临床应用价值. 该文总结了静息状态功能磁共振成像的主要研究成果,对静息状态脑功能网络的发现和发展、研究方法、各网络及其特点以及在临床方面的应用进行简单的介绍和分析.     

Long-duration transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation alters small-world brain functional networks

Acupuncture, which is recognized as an alternative and complementary treatment in Western medicine, has long shown efficiencies in chronic pain relief, drug addiction treatment, stroke rehabilitation and other clinical practices. The neural mechanism underlying acupuncture, however, is still unclear. Many studies have focused on the sustained effects of acupuncture on healthy subjects, yet there are very few on the topological organization of functional networks in the whole brain in response to long-duration acupuncture (longer than 20 min). This paper presents a novel study on the effects of long-duration transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on the small-world properties of brain functional networks. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to construct brain functional networks of 18 healthy subjects (9 males and 9 females) during the resting state. All subjects received both TEAS and minimal TEAS (MTEAS) and were scanned before and after each stimulation. An altered functional network was found with lower local efficiency and no significant change in global efficiency for healthy subjects after TEAS, while no significant difference was observed after MTEAS. The experiments also showed that the nodal efficiencies in several paralimbic/limbic regions were altered by TEAS, and those in middle frontal gyrus and other regions by MTEAS. To remove the psychological effects and the baseline, we compared the difference between diffTEAS (difference between after and before TEAS) and diffMTEAS (difference between after and before MTEAS). The results showed that the local efficiency was decreased and that the nodal efficiencies in frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus and hippocampus gyrus were changed. Based on those observations, we conclude that long-duration TEAS may modulate the short-range connections of brain functional networks and also the limbic system.     

The role of nonlinearity in computing graph-theoretical properties of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging brain networks

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the study of large-scale brain activity interaction structure from the perspective of complex networks, based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements. To assess the strength of interaction (functional connectivity, FC) between two brain regions, the linear (Pearson) correlation coefficient of the respective time series is most commonly used. Since a potential use of nonlinear FC measures has recently been discussed in this and other fields, the question arises whether particular nonlinear FC measures would be more informative for the graph analysis than linear ones. We present a comparison of network analysis results obtained from the brain connectivity graphs capturing either full (both linear and nonlinear) or only linear connectivity using 24 sessions of human resting-state fMRI. For each session, a matrix of full connectivity between 90 anatomical parcel time series is computed using mutual information. For comparison, connectivity matrices obtained for multivariate linear Gaussian surrogate data that preserve the correlations, but remove any nonlinearity are generated. Binarizing these matrices using multiple thresholds, we generate graphs corresponding to linear and full nonlinear interaction structures. The effect of neglecting nonlinearity is then assessed by comparing the values of a range of graph-theoretical measures evaluated for both types of graphs. Statistical comparisons suggest a potential effect of nonlinearity on the local measures-clustering coefficient and betweenness centrality. Nevertheless, subsequent quantitative comparison shows that the nonlinearity effect is practically negligible when compared to the intersubject variability of the graph measures. Further, on the group-average graph level, the nonlinearity effect is unnoticeable.     

Complex networks in climate dynamics

Complex network theory provides a powerful framework to statistically investigate the topology of local and non-local statistical interrelationships, i.e. teleconnections, in the climate system. Climate networks constructed from the same global climatological data set using the linear Pearson correlation coefficient or the nonlinear mutual information as a measure of dynamical similarity between regions, are compared systematically on local, mesoscopic and global topological scales. A high degree of similarity is observed on the local and mesoscopic topological scales for surface air temperature fields taken from AOGCM and reanalysis data sets. We find larger differences on the global scale, particularly in the betweenness centrality field. The global scale view on climate networks obtained using mutual information offers promising new perspectives for detecting network structures based on nonlinear physical processes in the climate system.     

Exploring vision-related acupuncture point specificity with multivoxel pattern analysis

Acupoint specificity is one of the central issues of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of acupuncture and has been under discussed. However, strong and consistent proof has not been provided for the existence of acupoint specificity, and unsuitable analysis approach applied could be the reason. We observed that previous researches of acupoint specificity were mostly based on model-based methods which were limited to make exploration of acupoint specificity because of the inaccurate specified prior. Here we applied multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to investigate the specificity of brain activation patterns induced by acupuncture stimulations at a vision-related acupoint (GB37) and a nearby nonacupoint (NAP). Results showed that multiple brain areas could differentiate the central neural response patterns induced by acupuncture stimulation at these two sites with higher accuracy above the chance level. These regions included occipital cortex, limbic-cerebellar areas and somatosensory cortex. Our results support that the characteristic neural response patterns of brain cortex to the acupuncture stimulation at GB37 and a nearby NAP could differ from each other effectively with the application of MVPA approach.     

Investigation of the large-scale functional brain networks modulated by acupuncture

Previous neuroimaging studies have primarily focused on the neural activities involving the acute effects of acupuncture. Considering that acupuncture can induce long-lasting effects, several researchers have begun to pay attention to the sustained effects of acupuncture on the resting brain. Most of these researchers adopted functional connectivity analysis based on one or a few preselected brain regions and demonstrated various function-guided brain networks underlying the specific effect of acupuncture. Few have investigated how these brain networks interacted at the whole-brain level. In this study, we sought to investigate the functional correlations throughout the entire brain following acupuncture at acupoint ST36 (ACUP) in comparison with acupuncture at nearby nonacupoint (SHAM). We divided the whole brain into 90 regions and constructed functional brain network for each condition. Then we examined the network hubs and identified statistically significant differences in functional correlations between the two conditions. Following ACUP, but not SHAM, the limbic/paralimbic regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus and anterior cingulate gyrus emerged as network hubs. For direct comparisons, increased correlations for ACUP compared to SHAM were primarily related with the limbic/paralimbic and subcortical regions such as the insula, amygdala, anterior cingulate gyrus, and thalamus, whereas decreased correlations were mainly related with the sensory and frontal cortex. The heterogeneous modulation patterns between the two conditions may relate to the functional specific modulatory effects of acupuncture. The preliminary findings may help us to better understand the long-lasting effects of acupuncture on the entire resting brain, as well as the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying acupuncture.