On the convergence and causality of a frequency domain method for dynamic structural analysis

Venanico-Filho et al. developed an elegant matrix formulation for dynamic analysis by frequency domain （FD）, but the convergence, causality and extended period need further refining. In the present paper, it was argued that： （1） under reasonable assumptions （approximating the frequency response function by the discrete Fourier transform of the discretized unitary impulse response function）, the matrix formulation by FD is equivalent to a circular convolution; （2） to avoid the wraparound interference, the excitation vector and impulse response must be padded with enough zeros; （3） provided that the zero padding requirement satisfied, the convergence and accuracy of direct time domain analysis, which is equivalent to that by FD, are guaranteed by the numerical integration scheme; （4） the imaginary part of the computational response approaching zero is due to the continuity of the impulse response functions.

Efficacy of intelligent diagnosis with a dynamic uncertain causality graph model for rare disorders of sex development

Disorders of sex development(DSD)are a group of rare complex clinical syndromes with multiple etiologies.Distinguishing the various causes of DSD is quite difficult in clinical practice,even for senior general physicians because of the similar and atypical clinical manifestations of these conditions.In addition,DSD are difficult to diagnose because most primary doctors receive insufficient training for DSD.Delayed diagnoses and misdiagnoses are common for patients with DSD and lead to poor treatment and prognoses.On the basis of the principles and algorithms of dynamic uncertain causality graph(DUCG),a diagnosis model for DSD was jointly constructed by experts on DSD and engineers of artificial intelligence.“Chaining”inference algorithm and weighted logic operation mechanism were applied to guarantee the accuracy and efficiency of diagnostic reasoning under incomplete situations and uncertain information.Verification was performed using 153 selected clinical cases involving nine common DSD-related diseases and three causes other than DSD as the differential diagnosis.The model had an accuracy of 94.1%,which was significantly higher than that of interns and third-year residents.In conclusion,the DUCG model has broad application prospects as a computer-aided diagnostic tool for DSDrelated diseases.

Learning Dynamic Causal Relationships Among Sugar Prices

In this paper, we are interested in exploring the dynamic causal relationships among two sets of three variables in different quarters. One set is futures sugar closing price in Zhengzhou futures exchange market （ZC）, spot sugar price in Zhengzhou （ZS） and futures sugar closing price in New York futures exchange market（NC） and the other includes futures sugar opening price in Zhengzhou （ZO）, ZS and NC. For each quarter, we first use Bayesian model selection to obtain the optimal causal graph with the highest BD scores and then use Bayesian model averaging approach to explore the causal relationship between every two variables. From the real data analysis, the two conclusions almost coincide, which shows that the two methods are practical.

Instruction Cues Increase Brain Network Complexity During Movement Preparation

Instruction cues are widely employed for research on neural mechanisms during movement preparation.However,their influence on brain connectivity during movement has not received much attention.Herein,15 healthy subjects completed two experimental tasks including either instructed or voluntary movements;meanwhile electroencephalogram(EEG)data were synchronously recorded.Based on source analysis and related literature,six movement-related brain regions were selected,including the left/right supplementary motor area(SMA),left/right inferior frontal gyrus(iFg),and left/right postcentral gyrus(pCg).After assuming 10 a priori models of regional brain connectivity,we evaluated the optimal connectivity model between brain regions for the two scenarios using the dynamic causality model(DCM).During voluntary movement,the movement originated in the SMA,passed through the iFg of the prefrontal lobe,and then returned to the main sensory cortex of the pCg.In the instructed movement,the movement originated in the iFg,and then was transmitted to the pCg and the SMA,as well as from the pCg to the SMA.In contrast to the preparation process of voluntary movement,there were long-range information interactions between the iFg and pCg.Further,almost the same brain regions were active during movement preparation under both voluntary and instructed movement tasks,which evidences certain similarities in dynamic brain connectivity,that is,the brain has direct connections between the bilateral SMA,bilateral pCg,and bilateral SMA,indicating that the both brain hemispheres work together during the movement preparation phase.The results suggest that the network during the preparation process of instructed movements is more complex than voluntary movements.

Separate Neural Networks for Gains and Losses in Intertemporal Choice

An important and unresolved question is how human brain regions process information and interact with each other in intertemporal choice related to gains and losses. Using psychophysiological interaction and dynamic causal modeling analyses, we investigated the functional interactions between regions involved in the decision- making process while participants performed temporal discounting tasks in both the gains and losses domains. We found two distinct intrinsic valuation systems underlying temporal discounting in the gains and losses domains： gains were specifically evaluated in the medial regions, including the medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, and losses were evaluated in the lateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In addition, immediate reward or pun- ishment was found to modulate the functional interactions between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and distinct regions in both the gains and losses domains： in the gains domain, the mesolimbic regions; in the losses domain, the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula. These findings suggest that intertemporal choice of gains and losses might involve distinct valuation systems, and more importantly, separate neural interactions may implement the intertemporal choices of gains and losses. These findings may provide a new biological perspective for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying intertemporal choice of gains and losses.

Effective connectivity of dorsal and ventral visual pathways in chunk decomposition

Chunk decomposition is defined as a cognitive process which breaks up familiar items into several parts to reorganize them in an alternative approach.The present study investigated the effective connectivity of visual streams in chunk decomposition through dynamic causal modeling(DCM).The results revealed that chunk familiarity and perceptual tightness made a combined contribution to highlight not only the "what" and the "where" streams,but also the effective connectivity from the left inferior temporal gyrus to the left superior parietal lobule.

Abnormal Effective Connectivity of the Anterior Forebrain Regions in Disorders of Consciousness

A number of studies have indicated that disor- ders of consciousness result from multifocal injuries as well as from the impaired functional and anatomical connectivity between various anterior forebrain regions. However, the specific causal mechanism linking these regions remains unclear. In this study, we used spectral dynamic causal modeling to assess how the effective connections （ECs） between various regions differ between individuals. Next, we used connectome-based predictive modeling to evaluate the performance of the ECs in predicting the clinical scores of DOC patients. We found increased ECs from the striatum to the globus pallidus as well as from the globus pallidus to the posterior cingulate cortex, and decreased ECs from the globus pallidus to the thalamus and from the medial prefrontal cortex to the striatum in DOC patients as compared to healthy controls. Prediction of the patients＇ outcome was effective using the negative ECs as features. In summary, the present study highlights a key role of the thalamo-basal ganglia-cortical loop in DOCs and supports the anterior forebrain mesocircuit hypothesis. Furthermore, EC could be potentially used to assess the consciousness level.

Abnormal Effective Connectivity in the Brain is Involved in Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia

Information flow among auditory and language processing-related regions implicated in the pathophysiology of auditory verbal hallucinations（AVHs） in schizophrenia（SZ） remains unclear. In this study, we used stochastic dynamic causal modeling（s DCM） to quantify connections among the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex（inner speech monitoring）, auditory cortex（auditory processing）, hippocampus（memory retrieval）, thalamus（information filtering）, and Broca＇s area（language production） in 17 first-episode drug-na？¨ve SZ patients with AVHs, 15 without AVHs, and 19 healthy controls using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.Finally, we performed receiver operating characteristic（ROC） analysis and correlation analysis between image measures and symptoms. s DCM revealed an increasedsensitivity of auditory cortex to its thalamic afferents and a decrease in hippocampal sensitivity to auditory inputs in SZ patients with AVHs. The area under the ROC curve showed the diagnostic value of these two connections to distinguish SZ patients with AVHs from those without AVHs. Furthermore, we found a positive correlation between the strength of the connectivity from Broca＇s area to the auditory cortex and the severity of AVHs. These findings demonstrate, for the first time, augmented AVHspecific excitatory afferents from the thalamus to the auditory cortex in SZ patients, resulting in auditory perception without external auditory stimuli. Our results provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying AVHs in SZ. This thalamic-auditory cortical-hippocampal dysconnectivity may also serve as a diagnostic biomarker of AVHs in SZ and a therapeutic target based on direct in vivo evidence.