Cited by 688Functional Brain Connectivity StudiesBayesian Modeling and Causal InferenceStatistical Methods and Bayesian Inference

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 45 of the 46 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 22 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Comparing Families of Dynamic Causal Models

Open access
Penny, Will D., Stephan, Klaas E., Daunizeau, Jean, Rosa, Maria J., Friston, Karl J., Schofield, Thomas M., Leff, Alex P.·2010·PLoS Computational Biology

Abstract

Mathematical models of scientific data can be formally compared using Bayesian model evidence. Previous applications in the biological sciences have mainly focussed on model selection in which one first selects the model with the highest evidence and then makes inferences based on the parameters of that model. This "best model" approach is very useful but can become brittle if there are a large number of models to compare, and if different subjects use different models. To overcome this shortcoming we propose the combination of two further approaches: (i) family level inference and (ii) Bayesian model averaging within families. Family level inference removes uncertainty about aspects of model structure other than the characteristic of interest. For example: What are the inputs to the system? Is processing serial or parallel? Is it linear or nonlinear? Is it mediated by a single, crucial connection? We apply Bayesian model averaging within families to provide inferences about parameters that are independent of further assumptions about model structure. We illustrate the methods using Dynamic Causal Models of brain imaging data.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

The paper proposes family-level Bayesian inference and Bayesian model averaging within families as alternatives to selecting a single best model, especially when many models are compared or subjects may use different models. It illustrates the approach with Dynamic Causal Models of fMRI data from an auditory word-processing study, finding evidence that auditory input enters posterior STS and that speech intelligibility modulates forward connections from P to A and P to F.

Key findings

  • Family-level inference avoids brittle best-model selection; family posteriors are invariant to the comparison set under fixed effects, and random-effects family inference is implemented via Gibbs sampling.
  • For input connectivity, the FFX posterior for region P alone receiving auditory input was 1.00; RFX expected probability was 0.44 with exceedance probability 0.78, while region A alone had RFX exceedance 0.19.
  • For modulatory families, the forward family had the highest FFX posterior (0.64) and RFX expected probability (0.52) with exceedance probability 0.66.
  • Bayesian model averaging within input family P showed that only forward connections from P to A and P to F were modulated by speech intelligibility; free-energy-based top models averaged 4.5 modulatory connections versus 2.4 in the earlier AIC/BIC-based study.

Methods

  • Dynamic Causal Models for fMRI were used with three regions: left posterior superior temporal sulcus (P), left anterior superior temporal sulcus (A), and pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus (F); all models had all-to-all endogenous connectivity, with variation in direct input regions and modulatory connections.
  • The model space crossed 64 modulatory patterns with 7 input patterns, giving 448 DCMs, fitted to data from a previously published intelligible-speech study; the subject count is not recoverable from the provided text.
  • Analysis used fixed-effects and random-effects family-level inference; RFX inference used Gibbs sampling with 10,000 discarded burn-in samples, and Bayesian model averaging was performed within families using Occam’s window.

Limitations

  • Stated: the variational Bayes implementation is not accurate for small prior counts, motivating Gibbs sampling; Gibbs sampling is preferred when the number of models exceeds the number of subjects, while VB is preferred for small model sets.
  • Stated: the relative merits of different model-evidence criteria are left to a future publication, and the automatic relevance determination approach for DCMs is currently hypothetical.
  • Evident from the text: the method is illustrated on one fMRI dataset from an auditory word-processing study, so broader biological applicability is proposed but not tested here; results also depend on the chosen family partitions and on the free-energy approximation to model evidence.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000709

Cites

45 of 45 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Figure 1 Dynamic Causal Models. The DCMs in this paper were used to analyse fMRI data from three brain regions: (i) left posterior temporal sulcus (region P), (ii) left anterior superior temporal sulcus (region A) and (iii) pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus (region F). The DCMs themselves comprised the following variables; experimental inputs for auditory stimulation and for speech intelligibility, a neuronal activity vector with three elements (one for each region P, A, and F), exogenous connections specified by the three-by-three connectivity matrix (dotted arrows in figure), modulatory connections specified by three-by-three modulatory matrics for inputs (the solid line ending with a filled circle denotes the single non-zero entry for this particular model), and a 3-by-2 direct input connectivity matrix with non-zero entries shown by solid arrows. The dynamics of this model are govenered by equation 1. All DCMs in this paper used all-to-all endogenous connectivity ie. there were endogenous connections between all three regions. Different models were set up by specifying which regions received direct (auditory) input (non-zero entries in ) and which connections could be modulated by the speech intelligibility (non-zero entries in the matrix ).
Figure 1 Dynamic Causal Models. The DCMs in this paper were used to analyse fMRI data from three brain regions: (i) left posterior temporal sulcus (region P), (ii) left anterior superior temporal sulcus (region A) and (iii) pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus (region F). The DCMs themselves comprised the following variables; experimental inputs for auditory stimulation and for speech intelligibility, a neuronal activity vector with three elements (one for each region P, A, and F), exogenous connections specified by the three-by-three connectivity matrix (dotted arrows in figure), modulatory connections specified by three-by-three modulatory matrics for inputs (the solid line ending with a filled circle denotes the single non-zero entry for this particular model), and a 3-by-2 direct input connectivity matrix with non-zero entries shown by solid arrows. The dynamics of this model are govenered by equation 1. All DCMs in this paper used all-to-all endogenous connectivity ie. there were endogenous connections between all three regions. Different models were set up by specifying which regions received direct (auditory) input (non-zero entries in ) and which connections could be modulated by the speech intelligibility (non-zero entries in the matrix ).CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 RFX posterior densities for input families. The histograms show versus for the input families. Input family ‘P’ has the highest posterior expected probability . See Table 1 for other posterior expectations.
Figure 2 RFX posterior densities for input families. The histograms show versus for the input families. Input family ‘P’ has the highest posterior expected probability . See Table 1 for other posterior expectations.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 3 RFX Posterior densities for modulatory families. The histograms show versus for the modulatory families. Modulatory family ‘F’ has the highest posterior expected probability . See Table 2 for other posterior expectations.
Figure 3 RFX Posterior densities for modulatory families. The histograms show versus for the modulatory families. Modulatory family ‘F’ has the highest posterior expected probability . See Table 2 for other posterior expectations.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 4 Model level inference for input families. For FFX (top panel) the figure shows that models in the P family have by far the greatest posterior probability mass. For RFX (bottom panel) models in both A and P families have high posterior expected probability, although the probability mass for P dominates.
Figure 4 Model level inference for input families. For FFX (top panel) the figure shows that models in the P family have by far the greatest posterior probability mass. For RFX (bottom panel) models in both A and P families have high posterior expected probability, although the probability mass for P dominates.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 5 Model level inference for modulatory families. For FFX (top panel) the figure shows that models in the F and BAL families have most probability mass. The expected posteriors from the RFX inference show a similar pattern (bottom panel). The ordering of models in this figure is not the same as the ordering of P models in figure 4.
Figure 5 Model level inference for modulatory families. For FFX (top panel) the figure shows that models in the F and BAL families have most probability mass. The expected posteriors from the RFX inference show a similar pattern (bottom panel). The ordering of models in this figure is not the same as the ordering of P models in figure 4.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 6 Likely models. The figure shows the input (filled square and solid arrow) and modulatory connectivity (solid arrows) stuctures for four models in Occam's window (assessed using FFX). Note that all models also have full endogenous connectivity (not shown). These four models are (a) model with , rank = 1, (b) model with , rank = 2, (c) model with , rank = 15 and (d) model with , rank = 16. All models have auditory input entering region P.
Figure 6 Likely models. The figure shows the input (filled square and solid arrow) and modulatory connectivity (solid arrows) stuctures for four models in Occam's window (assessed using FFX). Note that all models also have full endogenous connectivity (not shown). These four models are (a) model with , rank = 1, (b) model with , rank = 2, (c) model with , rank = 15 and (d) model with , rank = 16. All models have auditory input entering region P.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 7 Average Modulatory Connections from FFX for input family P. The figures show the posterior densities of average network parameters from fixed effects Bayesian model averaging for the modulatory connections. Only forward connections from P to A and from P to F are modulated by speech intelligibility.
Figure 7 Average Modulatory Connections from FFX for input family P. The figures show the posterior densities of average network parameters from fixed effects Bayesian model averaging for the modulatory connections. Only forward connections from P to A and from P to F are modulated by speech intelligibility.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 8 Average Modulatory Connections from RFX for input family P. The figures show the posterior densities of average network parameters from random effects Bayesian model averaging for the modulatory connections. Only forward connections from P to A and from P to F are modulated by speech intelligibility.
Figure 8 Average Modulatory Connections from RFX for input family P. The figures show the posterior densities of average network parameters from random effects Bayesian model averaging for the modulatory connections. Only forward connections from P to A and from P to F are modulated by speech intelligibility.CC BY · PubMed Central

Verification

Claims the paper makes

33 Own interpretation · 20 Not checked yet · 13 Own result · 6 No basis given

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  • Probably not a substantial claim. 15
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 22
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 4
34 of 34
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The Free Energy bound is tight.

    “Under the assumption that this bound is tight, model comparison can then proceed using as a surrogate for the log-model evidence.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Under the fixed-effects (FFX) assumption, all subjects use the same model.

    “We could take this to be under the FFX assumption that all subjects use the same model, or under the RFX assumption that each subject uses their own model (see equation 14).”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Under the random-effects (RFX) assumption, each subject uses their own model.

    “We could take this to be under the FFX assumption that all subjects use the same model, or under the RFX assumption that each subject uses their own model (see equation 14).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Dynamic causal models (DCMs) have a Gaussian form.

    “For the applications in this paper, the posterior densities from equation 27 will therefore correspond to a mixture of delta functions and Gaussians because for DCMs have a Gaussian form.”
4 of 4

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Citations

Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. J Hoeting, 1999, Bayesian Model Averaging: A Tutorial., Statistical Science, 14, 382

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Metadata

Authors
Penny, W. D., Stephan, K. E., Daunizeau, J., Rosa, M. J., Friston, K. J., Schofield, T. M., & Leff, A. P.
Affiliations
Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
Corresponding author
Penny, Will D.
Venue
PLoS Computational Biology
Published
2010-03-12
Volume
6
Issue
3
Pages
e1000709
ISSN
  • 1553-734X (ISSN-L)
  • 1553-7358
OpenAlex
W1998151455
Cited by
688
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 57 · 2015: 71 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 67 · 2012: 36
FWCI
29.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS Computational Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (088130)
  • Universität Zürich
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods and Bayesian Inference
Keywords
dynamic causal modeling, Bayesian model averaging, model comparison, marginal likelihood, neuroimaging, parameter uncertainty, model structure uncertainty
MeSH terms
Bayes Theorem, Brain, Computer Simulation, Models, Neurological, Nerve Net, Pattern Recognition, Automated, Models, Statistical, Causality

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