The arrow-of-time in neuroimaging time series identifies causal triggers of brain function

Thomas A.W. Bolton*, Dimitri Van De Ville, Enrico Amico, Maria G. Preti, Raphaël Liégeois

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Moving from association to causal analysis of neuroimaging data is crucial to advance our understanding of brain function. The arrow-of-time (AoT), that is, the known asymmetric nature of the passage of time, is the bedrock of causal structures shaping physical phenomena. However, almost all current time series metrics do not exploit this asymmetry, probably due to the difficulty to account for it in modeling frameworks. Here, we introduce an AoT-sensitive metric that captures the intensity of causal effects in multivariate time series, and apply it to high-resolution functional neuroimaging data. We find that causal effects underlying brain function are more distinctively localized in space and time than functional activity or connectivity, thereby allowing us to trace neural pathways recruited in different conditions. Overall, we provide a mapping of the causal brain that challenges the association paradigm of brain function.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4077-4087
Number of pages11
JournalHuman Brain Mapping
Volume44
Issue number10
Early online date20 May 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Keywords

  • arrow-of-time
  • brain dynamics
  • brain function
  • causality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anatomy
  • Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology

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