title: Automated voxel classification used with atlas-guided diffuse optical tomography for assessment of functional brain networks in young and older adults.
abstract: Atlas-guided diffuse optical tomography (atlas-DOT) is a computational means to image changes in cortical hemodynamic signals during human brain activities. Graph theory analysis (GTA) is a network analysis tool commonly used in functional neuroimaging to study brain networks. Atlas-DOT has not been analyzed with GTA to derive large-scale brain connectivity/networks based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements. We introduced an automated voxel classification (AVC) method that facilitated the use of GTA with atlas-DOT images by grouping unequal-sized finite element voxels into anatomically meaningful regions of interest within the human brain. The overall approach included volume segmentation, AVC, and cross-correlation. To demonstrate the usefulness of AVC, we applied reproducibility analysis to resting-state functional connectivity measurements conducted from 15 young adults in a two-week period. We also quantified and compared changes in several brain network metrics between young and older adults, which were in agreement with those reported by a previous positron emission tomography study. Overall, this study demonstrated that AVC is a useful means for facilitating integration or combination of atlas-DOT with GTA and thus for quantifying NIRS-based, voxel-wise resting-state functional brain networks.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Arlington, Department of Bioengineering and Joint Graduate Program Between University of Texas at Arlington and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States; University of California, Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Cook Children's Medical Center , 801 Seventh Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76104, United States.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cazzell
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Arlington , Department of Bioengineering and Joint Graduate Program Between University of Texas at Arlington and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States.
authors.forename: Olajide
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Babawale
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Arlington , Department of Bioengineering and Joint Graduate Program Between University of Texas at Arlington and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States.
authors.forename: Hanli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: AAL 116 atlas; atlas-guided diffuse optical tomography; functional brain connectivity; graph formation; graph theory; young and older adults