Examples of pattern-recognition and fMRI applied to real-world problems: Dyslexia and detecting consciousness

Some quick project notes Do not assume that the reader cares about your favourite brain area …or even that they care about the brain at all You can assume that they care about human beings and about knowledge Explain why those interests mean that your brain study will matter to them Avoid vague phrases “Explore the role of” “The neural basis of” “We predict an interaction between”

Predicting reading development using imaging, beyond what you can get just from behaviour Hoeft, F., McCandliss, B. D., Black, J. M., Gantman, A., Zakerani, N., Hulme, C., ... & Gabrieli, J. D. (2011). Neural systems predicting long-term outcome in dyslexia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(1), 361-366.

Hoeft et al. (2011): Key points Quotes from abstract Prospective, longitudinal study over 2.5 y Aim: predict future long-term reading gains in dyslexia No behavioral measure, including widely used and standardized reading and language tests, reliably predicted future reading gains in dyslexia MVPA of whole-brain activation pattern during phonological processing predicted which children with dyslexia would improve reading skills 2.5 y later with >90% accuracy. Brain measures that predict future behavioral outcomes (neuroprognosis) may be more accurate, in some cases, than available behavioral measures

How subjects developed over time Hoeft, F. et al. (2011). Neural systems predicting long- term outcome in dyslexia. PNAS, 108(1), 361-366.

A quick detour: What is an SVM? Support Vector Machine Classifier which tries to find the largest margin between classes http://people.revoledu.com/kardi/tutorial/SVM/What-is-SVM-An- intuitive-introduction.html

fMRI and DTI predictors of reading gains in dyslexia Hoeft, F. et al. (2011). Neural systems predicting long-term outcome in dyslexia. PNAS, 108(1), 361-366.

Different measures of accuracy (often used in medicine) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitivity_and_specificity Positive Predictive Value and Precision are different names for the same thing

fMRI and DTI predictors of reading gains in dyslexia

Detecting consciousness in patients in vegetative state Monti, Martin M., Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, Martin R. Coleman, Melanie Boly, John D. Pickard, Luaba Tshibanda, Adrian M. Owen, and Steven Laureys. "Willful modulation of brain activity in disorders of consciousness." New England Journal of Medicine 362, no. 7 (2010): 579-589.

BBC News video http://www.bbc.com/news/health-20268044

Mental imagery: What happens when we imagine stuff? There used to be two rival views: It’s a higher-level proposition- like representation You actually re-activate the same areas involved in perception Kosslyn, Stephen M., Giorgio Ganis, and William L. Thompson. "Neural foundations of imagery." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2.9 (2001): 635-642.

Mental imagery tasks Monti, M. M. et al., New England Journal of Medicine (2010)

Localiser scans Monti, M. M. et al., New England Journal of Medicine (2010)

Communication scans Monti, M. M. et al., New England Journal of Medicine (2010)

Some questions If a patient does respond reliably to the questions, does that mean that they are conscious? If a patient does not respond reliably to the questions, does that mean that they are not conscious? Are these “brain responses” a form of behaviour?

More questions Can this be extended beyond Yes/No questions? How might that work? Ethical questions?