High-order brain network feature extraction and classification method of first-episode schizophrenia: an EEG study.

Introduction: A multimodal persistent topological feature extraction and classification method is proposed to enhance the recognition accuracy of first-episode schizophrenia patients. This approach addresses the limitations of traditional higher-order brain network analyses that rely on single persistent features (e.g., persistent images). Methods: The study utilized resting-state EEG data from 198 subjects recruited at Huilongguan Hospital in Beijing, comprising 102 males and 96 females, with a mean age of 30 years and mean education of 14 years. Persistent topological features were extracted using adaptive thresholding during persistent homology (PH) filtrations. The distribution of these features was visualized through heatmaps and persistence entropies, while the generation process was elucidated using Betti curves and persistence landscapes. Results: The classification performance of the multimodal persistent topological features was assessed using various machine learning classifiers. The classifier yielding the highest performance was selected for comparison with traditional brain network features derived from graph theory and single persistent topological features. The results revealed significant topological changes in first-episode schizophrenia patients throughout the persistent homology filtering compared to healthy subjects. The univariate feature selection algorithm achieved a classification accuracy of 94.6% with a combination of attributes meeting the criterion of AC ≥ 0.6. Discussion: The proposed method demonstrates clinical significance for the early identification and diagnosis of first-episode schizophrenia patients, offering a new research perspective for constructing higher-order functional connectivity networks and extracting topological structure features.