Bayesian Spatial Point Process Modeling of Neuroimage Data

描述（由申请人提供）：功能性神经成像已成为非侵入性研究正常和临床人群大脑的重要工具。在过去的20年里，使用神经成像方法的研究量急剧增长。这种研究的爆炸得到了一种简单且计算效率高的方法的支持，称为质量单变量方法（MUA）。然而，尽管它被普遍使用，MUA也有几个局限性：1）无法推断效应的确切位置; 2） 无法正确解释受试者之间的空间异质性和效应的空间结构; 3）它不是为点模式数据设计的，例如来自神经成像Meta分析研究的数据，也不是来自多发性硬化病变的二进制值数据。为了克服MUA的这些局限性，我们提出了明确解决这些问题的贝叶斯统计模型的发展。特别地，我们将开发多层贝叶斯空间点过程模型来分析神经影像坐标级数据（例如当只有激活中心的峰值位置可用时，例如在神经成像Meta分析数据中的情况），二值成像数据（如从多发性硬化病变获得的）和神经图像体素级数据的分层贝叶斯空间过程/空间点过程模型（例如，当整个对比度或t统计图像在一组对象上可用时）。更 最近，神经科学家一直在收集纵向数据以及横截面数据，目的是研究疾病的进展。纵向神经影像学数据的分析工作做得很少，所以我们进一步建议扩展我们的建模，将纵向方面的数据，以及横截面方面。我们将实施和优化我们的方法，并向公众提供软件。这项工作的一个显着特点是，该模型可用于帮助预测/诊断神经精神/神经退行性疾病和障碍。因此，我们的模型将有助于理解神经精神和神经退行性疾病的发展，以及正常的大脑发育，这是目前的方法/模型无法回答的。反过来，这将有助于我们了解正常和患病状态下的人类大脑。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Functional neuroimaging has become an essential tool for non-invasively studying the brain of normal and clinical populations. The volume of research using neuroimaging methods has been growing dramatically in the last 20 years. This explosion of research has been supported by a simple and computationally efficient method known as the mass univariate approach (MUA). Despite its common use, however, there are several limitation to the MUA: 1) the inability to infer on the exact location of an effect; 2) the inability to properly account for spatial heterogeneity amongst subjects and the spatial structure of the effect; and 3) it is not designed for point pattern data, such as that from a neuroimaging meta analysis study, nor the binary valued data from multiple sclerosis lesions. To overcome these limitation of the MUA, we are proposing the development of Bayesian statistical models that explicitly address these issues. Specially, we will develop hierarchical Bayesian spatial point process models to analyze neuroimaging coordinate-level data (e.g. when only the peak location of the activation centers are available such as is the case in neuroimaging meta analysis data), binary imaging data (such as that obtained from multiple sclerosis lesions) and hierarchical Bayesian spatial process/spatial point process models for neuroimage voxel-level data (e.g. when the entire contrast or t-statistic image is available on a group of subjects). More recently, neuroscientists have been collecting longitudinal data, as well as cross-sectional data, with the intent of studying progression of disease. There is little work done on the analysis of longitudinal neuroimaging data, so we further propose to extend our modeling to incorporate the longitudinal aspect in the data as well as the cross-sectional aspect. We will implement and optimize our methods and make the software available to the public. One notable feature of this work is that the models can be used to help predict/diagnose neuropsychiatric/neurodegenerative diseases and disorders. Thus our models will assist in understanding the development of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as normal brain development, that cannot be answered by current methods/models. This, in turn, will aid in our understanding of the human brain in normal and diseased states.