Assessing inter-individual differences with task-related functional neuroimaging

Nature Human Behaviour volume 3, pages897–905(2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Explaining and predicting individual behavioural differences induced by clinical and social factors constitutes one of the most promising applications of neuroimaging. In this Perspective, we discuss the theoretical and statistical foundations of the analyses of inter-individual differences in task-related functional neuroimaging. Leveraging a five-year literature review (July 2013–2018), we show that researchers often assess how activations elicited by a variable of interest differ between individuals. We argue that the rationale for such analyses, typically grounded in resource theory, offers an over-large analytical and interpretational flexibility that undermines their validity. We also recall how, in the established framework of the general linear model, inter-individual differences in behaviour can act as hidden moderators and spuriously induce differences in activations. We conclude with a set of recommendations and directions, which we hope will contribute to improving the statistical validity and the neurobiological interpretability of inter-individual difference analyses in task-related functional neuroimaging.

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Fig. 1: A case study: explaining inter-individual differences in learning with model-based fMRI.
Fig. 2: From differences in behaviour to IBBD.

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Acknowledgements

During the preparation of this work, M.L. was supported by a NWO Veni (Grant 451-15-015) and a Swiss National Found Ambizione grant (PZ00P3_174127). M.L. also acknowledges the support of the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation. S.P. is supported by an ATIP-Avenir grant (R16069JS), the Programme Emergence(s) de la Ville de Paris, the Fyssen foundation, and the Fondation Schlumberger pour l’Education et la Recherche. The Institut d’Etude de la Cognition is supported financially by the LabEx IEC (ANR-10-LABX-0087 IEC) and the IDEX PSL* (ANR-10-IDEX-0001-02 PSL*).

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Affiliations

  1. Neurology and Imaging of Cognition (LabNIC), Department of Basic Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Maël Lebreton

  2. Swiss Center for Affective Science, Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland

    Maël Lebreton

  3. Amsterdam Brain and Cognition (ABC), Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Maël Lebreton

  4. CREED, Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE), Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Maël Lebreton

  5. Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris, France

    Sophie Bavard & Stefano Palminteri

  6. Département d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

    Sophie Bavard & Stefano Palminteri

  7. Human Reinforcement Learning team, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres, Paris, France

    Sophie Bavard & Stefano Palminteri

  8. Motivation, Brain & Behavior team, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), Paris, France

    Jean Daunizeau

  9. CNRS UMR 7225, INSERM U 1127, Pierre & Marie Curie University, Paris, France

    Jean Daunizeau

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  1. Maël Lebreton
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  2. Sophie Bavard
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  3. Jean Daunizeau
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  4. Stefano Palminteri
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Correspondence to Maël Lebreton.

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Lebreton, M., Bavard, S., Daunizeau, J. et al. Assessing inter-individual differences with task-related functional neuroimaging. Nat Hum Behav 3, 897–905 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0681-8

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