A Theoretical Investigation of the Relationship between Structural Equation Modeling and Partial Correlation in Functional MRI Effective Connectivity

Guillaume Marrelec, Habib Benali
2009 Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience  
An important field of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the investigation of effective connectivity, that is, the actions that a given set of regions exert on one another. We recently proposed a data-driven method based on the partial correlation matrix that could provide some insight regarding the pattern of functional interaction between brain regions as represented by structural equation modeling (SEM). So far, the efficiency of this approach
more » ... was mostly based on empirical evidence. In this paper, we provide theoretical fundaments explaining why and in what measure structural equation modeling and partial correlations are related. This gives better insight regarding what parts of SEM can be retrieved by partial correlation analysis and what remains inaccessible. We illustrate the different results with real data.
doi:10.1155/2009/369341 pmid:19730736 pmcid:PMC2731937 fatcat:yypkvov44bainaqqzftgrvu2su