Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26804778›Full record

ArticleNeuroImage2016

The Automatic Neuroscientist: A framework for optimizing experimental design with closed-loop real-time fMRI.

Romy Lorenz, Ricardo Pio Monti, Inês R Violante, Christoforos Anagnostopoulos, Aldo A Faisal, Giovanni Montana, Robert Leech

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NeuroImage, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed
6.7field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 94 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  6. Closed-loop fMRI at the mesoscopic scale of columns and layers: Can we do it and why would we want to?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024
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  16. Review
  17. Is it time to put rest to rest?Trends in cognitive sciences · 2021
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Romy LorenzThe Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, UK; Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Ricardo Pio MontiDepartment of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Inês R ViolanteThe Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, UK.
Christoforos AnagnostopoulosDepartment of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Aldo A FaisalDepartment of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Giovanni MontanaDepartment of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London SE1 7EH, UK.
Robert LeechThe Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, UK. Electronic address: r.leech@imperial.ac.uk.
Imperial College London · GBWellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging · GBKing's College London · GB

Funding

Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 103045/Z/13/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Functional neuroimaging typically explores how a particular task activates a set of brain regions. Importantly though, the same neural system can be activated by inherently different tasks. To date, there is no approach available that systematically explores whether and how distinct tasks probe the same neural system. Here, we propose and validate an alternative framework, the Automatic Neuroscientist, which turns the standard fMRI approach on its head. We use real-time fMRI in combination with modern machine-learning techniques to automatically design the optimal experiment to evoke a desired target brain state. In this work, we present two proof-of-principle studies involving perceptual stimuli. In both studies optimization algorithms of varying complexity were employed; the first involved a stochastic approximation method while the second incorporated a more sophisticated Bayesian optimization technique. In the first study, we achieved convergence for the hypothesized optimum in 11 out of 14 runs in less than 10 min. Results of the second study showed how our closed-loop framework accurately and with high efficiency estimated the underlying relationship between stimuli and neural responses for each subject in one to two runs: with each run lasting 6.3 min. Moreover, we demonstrate that using only the first run produced a reliable solution at a group-level. Supporting simulation analyses provided evidence on the robustness of the Bayesian optimization approach for scenarios with low contrast-to-noise ratio. This framework is generalizable to numerous applications, ranging from optimizing stimuli in neuroimaging pilot studies to tailoring clinical rehabilitation therapy to patients and can be used with multiple imaging modalities in humans and animals.

Indexed as

AdultAlgorithmsBayes TheoremBrainBrain-Computer InterfacesBrain MappingFemaleHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMachine LearningMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleNeurosciencesBayesian optimizationBrain–computer interfaceClosed-loopExperimental designMachine learningReal-time fMRI

Identifiers

PMID26804778
PMCPMC4819592
OpenAlexW2268210938

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.