🍩 Database of Original & Non-Theoretical Uses of Topology

(found 4 matches in 0.00119s)

  2. Revisiting Abnormalities in Brain Network Architecture Underlying Autism Using Topology-Inspired Statistical Inference (2018)

    Sourabh Palande, Vipin Jose, Brandon Zielinski, Jeffrey Anderson, P. Thomas Fletcher, Bei Wang
    Abstract A large body of evidence relates autism with abnormal structural and functional brain connectivity. Structural covariance magnetic resonance imaging (scMRI) is a technique that maps brain regions with covarying gray matter densities across subjects. It provides a way to probe the anatomical structure underlying intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) through analysis of gray matter signal covariance. In this article, we apply topological data analysis in conjunction with scMRI to explore network-specific differences in the gray matter structure in subjects with autism versus age-, gender-, and IQ-matched controls. Specifically, we investigate topological differences in gray matter structure captured by structural correlation graphs derived from three ICNs strongly implicated in autism, namely the salience network, default mode network, and executive control network. By combining topological data analysis with statistical inference, our results provide evidence of statistically significant network-specific structural abnormalities in autism.

  3. Persistent Homology Analysis of Brain Transcriptome Data in Autism (2019)

    Daniel Shnier, Mircea A. Voineagu, Irina Voineagu
    Abstract Persistent homology methods have found applications in the analysis of multiple types of biological data, particularly imaging data or data with a spatial and/or temporal component. However, few studies have assessed the use of persistent homology for the analysis of gene expression data. Here we apply persistent homology methods to investigate the global properties of gene expression in post-mortem brain tissue (cerebral cortex) of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and matched controls. We observe a significant difference in the geometry of inter-sample relationships between autism and healthy controls as measured by the sum of the death times of zero-dimensional components and the Euler characteristic. This observation is replicated across two distinct datasets, and we interpret it as evidence for an increased heterogeneity of gene expression in autism. We also assessed the topology of gene-level point clouds and did not observe significant differences between ASD and control transcriptomes, suggesting that the overall transcriptome organization is similar in ASD and healthy cerebral cortex. Overall, our study provides a novel framework for persistent homology analyses of gene expression data for genetically complex disorders.

  4. Topological Methods Reveal High and Low Functioning Neuro-Phenotypes Within Fragile X Syndrome (2014)

    David Romano, Monica Nicolau, Eve-Marie Quintin, Paul K. Mazaika, Amy A. Lightbody, Heather Cody Hazlett, Joseph Piven, Gunnar Carlsson, Allan L. Reiss
    Abstract Fragile X syndrome (FXS), due to mutations of the FMR1 gene, is the most common known inherited cause of developmental disability as well as the most common single-gene risk factor for autism. Our goal was to examine variation in brain structure in FXS with topological data analysis (TDA), and to assess how such variation is associated with measures of IQ and autism-related behaviors. To this end, we analyzed imaging and behavioral data from young boys (n = 52; aged 1.57–4.15 years) diagnosed with FXS. Application of topological methods to structural MRI data revealed two large subgroups within the study population. Comparison of these subgroups showed significant between-subgroup neuroanatomical differences similar to those previously reported to distinguish children with FXS from typically developing controls (e.g., enlarged caudate). In addition to neuroanatomy, the groups showed significant differences in IQ and autism severity scores. These results suggest that despite arising from a single gene mutation, FXS may encompass two biologically, and clinically separable phenotypes. In addition, these findings underscore the potential of TDA as a powerful tool in the search for biological phenotypes of neuropsychiatric disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 35:4904–4915, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.