Localizing synergies of hidden factors across complex systems: resting brain networks and HeLa gene expression profile as case studies

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ontivero-Ortega, Marlis, Mijatovic, Gorana, Faes, Luca, Marinazzo, Daniele, Stramaglia, Sebastiano
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ontivero-Ortega, Marlis
Mijatovic, Gorana
Faes, Luca
Marinazzo, Daniele
Stramaglia, Sebastiano
author_facet Ontivero-Ortega, Marlis
Mijatovic, Gorana
Faes, Luca
Marinazzo, Daniele
Stramaglia, Sebastiano
contents Factor analysis is a well-known statistical method to describe the variability of observed variables in terms of a smaller number of unobserved latent variables called factors. Even though latent factors are conceptually independent of each other, their influence on the observed variables is often joint and synergistic. We propose to quantify the synergy of the joint influence of factors on the observed variables using the O-information, a recently introduced metrics to assess high order dependencies in complex systems, in a new framework where latent factors and observed variables are jointly analyzed in terms of their joint informational character. Two case studies are reported: analyzing resting fMRI data, we find that DMN and FP networks show the highest synergy, consistently with their crucial role in higher cognitive functions; concerning HeLa cells, we find that the most synergistic gene is STK-12 (AURKB), suggesting that this gene is involved in controlling the HeLa cell cycle. We believe that this approach, representing a bridge between factor analysis and the field of high-order interactions, will find wide application across several domains.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_09053
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Localizing synergies of hidden factors across complex systems: resting brain networks and HeLa gene expression profile as case studies
Ontivero-Ortega, Marlis
Mijatovic, Gorana
Faes, Luca
Marinazzo, Daniele
Stramaglia, Sebastiano
Quantitative Methods
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
Factor analysis is a well-known statistical method to describe the variability of observed variables in terms of a smaller number of unobserved latent variables called factors. Even though latent factors are conceptually independent of each other, their influence on the observed variables is often joint and synergistic. We propose to quantify the synergy of the joint influence of factors on the observed variables using the O-information, a recently introduced metrics to assess high order dependencies in complex systems, in a new framework where latent factors and observed variables are jointly analyzed in terms of their joint informational character. Two case studies are reported: analyzing resting fMRI data, we find that DMN and FP networks show the highest synergy, consistently with their crucial role in higher cognitive functions; concerning HeLa cells, we find that the most synergistic gene is STK-12 (AURKB), suggesting that this gene is involved in controlling the HeLa cell cycle. We believe that this approach, representing a bridge between factor analysis and the field of high-order interactions, will find wide application across several domains.
title Localizing synergies of hidden factors across complex systems: resting brain networks and HeLa gene expression profile as case studies
topic Quantitative Methods
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.09053