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Hauptverfasser: Zhang, Panpan, Xiao, Shiying, Robb, W. Hudson, Liu, Dandan, Jefferson, Angela L., Yan, Jun
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10249
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author Zhang, Panpan
Xiao, Shiying
Robb, W. Hudson
Liu, Dandan
Jefferson, Angela L.
Yan, Jun
author_facet Zhang, Panpan
Xiao, Shiying
Robb, W. Hudson
Liu, Dandan
Jefferson, Angela L.
Yan, Jun
contents Functional connectivity analysis is an important tool for characterizing interactions among brain regions, particularly in studies of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Gaussian graphical models (GGMs) provide a promising statistical framework for estimating functional connectivity by capturing conditional dependence relationships among brain regions. Although a variety of regularized precision matrix estimators have been proposed to estimate sparse conditional dependency structures for GGMs, their comparative performance and practical implications for neuroimaging studies are not well understood. In this work, we present a comprehensive statistical review and empirical evaluation of widely used GGM estimation methods, including the graphical lasso (glasso), ridge-based glasso, graphical elastic net, adaptive glasso, smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD), minimax concave penalty (MCP), constrained $\ell_1$ minimization for inverse matrix estimation (CLIME), and tuning-insensitive graph estimation and regression (TIGER). Their performance is evaluated through extensive data-driven simulations designed to reflect realistic neuroimaging settings, along with an application to an AD cohort study to illustrate methodological differences and their impact on downstream network analysis. In addition, a user-friendly R package, spice, is provided to facilitate implementation and enhance the reproducibility of empirical studies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_10249
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gaussian Graphical Models for Functional Connectivity Analysis: A Statistical Review with Applications to Alzheimer's Disease
Zhang, Panpan
Xiao, Shiying
Robb, W. Hudson
Liu, Dandan
Jefferson, Angela L.
Yan, Jun
Methodology
Computation
Functional connectivity analysis is an important tool for characterizing interactions among brain regions, particularly in studies of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Gaussian graphical models (GGMs) provide a promising statistical framework for estimating functional connectivity by capturing conditional dependence relationships among brain regions. Although a variety of regularized precision matrix estimators have been proposed to estimate sparse conditional dependency structures for GGMs, their comparative performance and practical implications for neuroimaging studies are not well understood. In this work, we present a comprehensive statistical review and empirical evaluation of widely used GGM estimation methods, including the graphical lasso (glasso), ridge-based glasso, graphical elastic net, adaptive glasso, smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD), minimax concave penalty (MCP), constrained $\ell_1$ minimization for inverse matrix estimation (CLIME), and tuning-insensitive graph estimation and regression (TIGER). Their performance is evaluated through extensive data-driven simulations designed to reflect realistic neuroimaging settings, along with an application to an AD cohort study to illustrate methodological differences and their impact on downstream network analysis. In addition, a user-friendly R package, spice, is provided to facilitate implementation and enhance the reproducibility of empirical studies.
title Gaussian Graphical Models for Functional Connectivity Analysis: A Statistical Review with Applications to Alzheimer's Disease
topic Methodology
Computation
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10249