Foundation models for discovering robust biomarkers of neurological disorders from dynamic functional connectivity

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Girish, Deepank, Chan, Yi Hao, Gupta, Sukrit, Xia, Jing, Rajapakse, Jagath C.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Girish, Deepank
Chan, Yi Hao
Gupta, Sukrit
Xia, Jing
Rajapakse, Jagath C.
author_facet Girish, Deepank
Chan, Yi Hao
Gupta, Sukrit
Xia, Jing
Rajapakse, Jagath C.
contents Several brain foundation models (FM) have recently been proposed to predict brain disorders by modelling dynamic functional connectivity (FC). While they demonstrate remarkable model performance and zero- or few-shot generalization, the salient features identified as potential biomarkers are yet to be thoroughly evaluated. We propose RE-CONFIRM, a framework for evaluating the robustness of potential biomarker candidates elucidated by deep learning (DL) models including FMs. From experiments on five large datasets of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Alzheimer's Disease (AD), we found that although commonly used performance metrics provide an intuitive assessment of model predictions, they are insufficient for evaluating the robustness of biomarkers identified by these models. RE-CONFIRM metrics revealed that simply finetuning FMs leads to models that fail to capture regional hubs effectively, even in disorders where hubs are known to be implicated, such as ASD and ADHD. In view of this, we propose Hub-LoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation) as a fine-tuning technique that enables FMs to not only outperform customised DL models but also produce neurobiologically faithful biomarkers supported by meta-analyses. RE-CONFIRM is generalizable and can be easily applied to ascertain the robustness of DL models trained on functional MRI datasets. Code is available at: https://github.com/SCSE-Biomedical-Computing-Group/RE-CONFIRM.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_22018
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Foundation models for discovering robust biomarkers of neurological disorders from dynamic functional connectivity
Girish, Deepank
Chan, Yi Hao
Gupta, Sukrit
Xia, Jing
Rajapakse, Jagath C.
Neurons and Cognition
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Signal Processing
Several brain foundation models (FM) have recently been proposed to predict brain disorders by modelling dynamic functional connectivity (FC). While they demonstrate remarkable model performance and zero- or few-shot generalization, the salient features identified as potential biomarkers are yet to be thoroughly evaluated. We propose RE-CONFIRM, a framework for evaluating the robustness of potential biomarker candidates elucidated by deep learning (DL) models including FMs. From experiments on five large datasets of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Alzheimer's Disease (AD), we found that although commonly used performance metrics provide an intuitive assessment of model predictions, they are insufficient for evaluating the robustness of biomarkers identified by these models. RE-CONFIRM metrics revealed that simply finetuning FMs leads to models that fail to capture regional hubs effectively, even in disorders where hubs are known to be implicated, such as ASD and ADHD. In view of this, we propose Hub-LoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation) as a fine-tuning technique that enables FMs to not only outperform customised DL models but also produce neurobiologically faithful biomarkers supported by meta-analyses. RE-CONFIRM is generalizable and can be easily applied to ascertain the robustness of DL models trained on functional MRI datasets. Code is available at: https://github.com/SCSE-Biomedical-Computing-Group/RE-CONFIRM.
title Foundation models for discovering robust biomarkers of neurological disorders from dynamic functional connectivity
topic Neurons and Cognition
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.22018