title: Unified SPM-ICA for fMRI analysis.
abstract: A widely used tool for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data analysis, statistical parametric mapping (SPM), is based on the general linear model (GLM). SPM therefore requires a priori knowledge or specific assumptions about the time courses contributing to signal changes. In contradistinction, independent component analysis (ICA) is a data-driven method based on the assumption that the causes of responses are statistically independent. Here we describe a unified method, which combines ICA, temporal ICA (tICA), and SPM for analyzing fMRI data. tICA was applied to fMRI datasets to disclose independent components, whose number was determined by the Bayesian information criterion (BIC). The resulting components were used to construct the design matrix of a GLM. Parameters were estimated and regionally-specific statistical inferences were made about activations in the usual way. The sensitivity and specificity were evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves indicated that the unified SPM-ICA method had a better performance. Moreover, SPM-ICA was applied to fMRI datasets from twelve normal subjects performing left and right hand movements. The areas identified corresponded to motor (premotor, sensorimotor areas and SMA) areas and were consistently task related. Part of the frontal lobe, parietal cortex, and cingulate gyrus also showed transiently task-related responses. The unified method requires less supervision than the conventional SPM and enables classical inference about the expression of independent components. Our results also suggest that the method has a higher sensitivity than SPM analyses.
authors.affiliation: College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, PR China. dwhu@nudt.edu.cn
authors.forename: Dewen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Lirong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yadong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zongtan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Karl J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Friston
authors.forename: Changlian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Daxing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology