title: Test-retest reliability of effective connectivity in the face perception network.
abstract: Computational approaches have great potential for moving neuroscience toward mechanistic models of the functional integration among brain regions. Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) offers a promising framework for inferring the effective connectivity among brain regions and thus unraveling the neural mechanisms of both normal cognitive function and psychiatric disorders. While the benefit of such approaches depends heavily on their reliability, systematic analyses of the within-subject stability are rare. Here, we present a thorough investigation of the test-retest reliability of an fMRI paradigm for DCM analysis dedicated to unraveling intra- and interhemispheric integration among the core regions of the face perception network. First, we examined the reliability of face-specific BOLD activity in 25 healthy volunteers, who performed a face perception paradigm in two separate sessions. We found good to excellent reliability of BOLD activity within the DCM-relevant regions. Second, we assessed the stability of effective connectivity among these regions by analyzing the reliability of Bayesian model selection and model parameter estimation in DCM. Reliability was excellent for the negative free energy and good for model parameter estimation, when restricting the analysis to parameters with substantial effect sizes. Third, even when the experiment was shortened, reliability of BOLD activity and DCM results dropped only slightly as a function of the length of the experiment. This suggests that the face perception paradigm presented here provides reliable estimates for both conventional activation and effective connectivity measures. We conclude this paper with an outlook on potential clinical applications of the paradigm for studying psychiatric disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 37:730-744, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging (LMN), Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, 35039, Germany.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, 35039, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frässle
authors.affiliation: Social Neuroscience Lab|SNL, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.
authors.forename: Frieder Michel
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.affiliation: Social Neuroscience Lab|SNL, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.
authors.forename: Sören
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krach
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging (LMN), Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, 35039, Germany.|Core Facility Brainimaging, University of Marburg, Marburg, 35039, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jansen
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D000066499:Facial Recognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: DCM; FFA; OFA; computational psychiatry; fMRI; face perception; test-retest reliability