A Longitudinal Model for Functional Connectivity Networks Using Resting-State fMRI

Abstract

Many neuroimaging studies collect functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in a longitudinal manner. However, the current network modeling literature lacks a general framework for analyzing functional connectivity (FC) networks in fMRI data obtained from a longitudinal study. In this work, we build a novel longitudinal FC network model using a variance components approach. First, for all subjects visits, we account for the autocorrelation inherent in the fMRI time series data using a non-parametric technique. Second, we use a generalized least squares approach to estimate 1) the within-subject variance component shared across the population, 2) the FC network, and 3) the FC networks longitudinal trend. Our novel method for longitudinal FC networks seeks to account for the within-subject dependence across multiple visits, the variability due to the subjects being sampled from a population, and the autocorrelation present in fMRI data, while restricting the number of parameters in order to make the method computationally feasible and stable. We develop a permutation testing procedure to draw valid inference on group differences in baseline FC and change in FC over time between a set of patients and a comparable set of controls. To examine performance, we run a series of simulations and apply the model to longitudinal fMRI data collected from the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database.