Brain functional network modeling and analysis based on fMRI: a systematic review

Abstract

In recent years, the number of patients with neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, mild cognitive impairment) and mental disorders (i.e., depression, anxiety and schizophrenia) have increased dramatically. Researchers have found that complex network analysis can reveal the topology of brain functional networks, such as smallworld, scale-free, etc. In the study of brain diseases, it has been found that these topologies have undergoed abnormal changes in different degrees. Therefore, the research of brain functional networks can not only provide a new perspective for understanding the pathological mechanism of neurological and psychiatric diseases, but also provide assistance for the early diagnosis. Focusing on the study of human brain functional networks, this paper reviews the research results in recent years. First, this paper introduces the background of the study of brain functional networks under complex network theory and the important role of topological properties in the study of brain diseases. Second, the paper describes how to construct a brain functional network using neural image data. Third, the common methods of functional network analysis, including network structure analysis and disease classification, are introduced. Fourth, the role of brain functional networks in pathological study, analysis and diagnosis of brain functional diseases is studied. Finally, the paper summarizes the existing studies of brain functional networks and points out the problems and future research directions. Keywords Brain functional networks Á Complex network Á Topological properties Á Neurological and psychiatric diseases Abbreviations AAL Anatomical automatic labeling BOLD Blood oxygenation level dependent CAD Computer aided diagnosis EEG Electroencephalogram fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging ICA Independent component analysis MEG Magnetoencephalography PCA Principal component analysis ROI Region of interest SVD Singular value decomposition SVM Support vector machine SPM statistical parametric mapping toolkit TSCI Traumatic complete spinal cord injury. WHO World Health Organization

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