Topological Learning for Brain Networks

This paper proposes a novel topological learning framework that can integrate networks of different sizes and topology through persistent homology. This is possible through the introduction of a new topological loss function that enables such challenging task. The use of the proposed loss function bypasses the intrinsic computational bottleneck associated with matching networks. We validate the method in extensive statistical simulations with ground truth to assess the effectiveness of the topological loss in discriminating networks with different topology. The method is further applied to a twin brain imaging study in determining if the brain network is genetically heritable. The challenge is in overlaying the topologically different functional brain networks obtained from the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) onto the template structural brain network obtained through the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).