Discriminative analysis of brain function at resting-state for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

In this work, a discriminative model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is presented on the basis of multivariate pattern classification and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This model consists of two parts, a classifier and an intuitive representation of discriminative pattern of brain function between patients and normal controls. Regional homogeneity (ReHo), a measure of brain function at resting-state, is used here as a feature of classification. Fisher discriminative analysis (FDA) is performed on the features of training samples and a linear classifier is generated. Our initial experimental results show a successful classification rate of 85%, using leave-one-out cross validation. The classifier is also compared with linear support vector machine (SVM) and Batch Perceptron. Our classifier outperforms the alternatives significantly. Fisher brain, the optimal projective-direction vector in FDA, is used to represent the discriminative pattern. Some abnormal brain regions identified by Fisher brain, like prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, are well consistent with that reported in neuroimaging studies on ADHD. Moreover, some less reported but highly discriminative regions are also identified. We conclude that the discriminative model has potential ability to improve current diagnosis and treatment evaluation of ADHD.