A survey of multiple classifier systems as hybrid systems <s> Neuroscience <s> Abstract Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is becoming a forefront brain–computer interface tool. To decipher brain patterns, fast, accurate and reliable classifier methods are needed. The support vector machine (SVM) classifier has been traditionally used. Here we argue that state-of-the-art methods from pattern recognition and machine learning, such as classifier ensembles, offer more accurate classification. This study compares 18 classification methods on a publicly available real data set due to Haxby et al. [ Science 293 (2001) 2425–2430]. The data comes from a single-subject experiment, organized in 10 runs where eight classes of stimuli were presented in each run. The comparisons were carried out on voxel subsets of different sizes, selected through seven popular voxel selection methods. We found that, while SVM was robust, accurate and scalable, some classifier ensemble methods demonstrated significantly better performance. The best classifiers were found to be the random subspace ensemble of SVM classifiers, rotation forest and ensembles with random linear and random spherical oracle. <s> BIB001 </s> A survey of multiple classifier systems as hybrid systems <s> Neuroscience <s> We present a two stage sequential ensemble where data samples whose output from the first classifier fall in a low confidence output interval (LCOI) are processed by a second stage classifier. Training is composed of three processes: training the first classifier, determining the LCOI of the first classifier, and training the second classifier upon the data items whose output fall in the LCOI. The LCOI is determined varying a threshold on the false positive rate (FPR) and false negative rate (FNR) curves. We have tested the approach on a database of feature vectors for the classification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and control subjects extracted from structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data. In this paper, we focus on the combinations obtained when the first classifier is a relevance vector machine (RVM). Obtained results improve over previous results for this database. <s> BIB002 </s> A survey of multiple classifier systems as hybrid systems <s> Neuroscience <s> Dementia is a growing concern due to the aging process of the western societies. Non-invasive detection is therefore a high priority research endeavor. In this paper we report results of classification systems applied to the feature vectors obtained by a feature extraction method computed on structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) volumes for the detection of two neurological disorders with cognitive impairment: myotonic dystrophy of type 1 (MD1) and Alzheimer disease (AD). The feature extraction process is based on the voxel clusters detected by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis of sMRI upon a set of patient and control subjects. This feature extraction process is specific for each kind of disease and is grounded on the findings obtained by medical experts. The 10-fold cross-validation results of several statistical and neural network based classification algorithms trained and tested on these features show high specificity and moderate sensitivity of the classifiers, suggesting that the approach is better suited for rejecting than for detecting early stages of the diseases. <s> BIB003 </s> A survey of multiple classifier systems as hybrid systems <s> Neuroscience <s> Dendritic computing has been proved to produce perfect approximation of any data distribution. This result guarantees perfect accuracy training. However, we have found great performance degradation when tested on conventional k-fold cross-validation schemes. In this paper we propose to use Lattice Independent Component Analysis (LICA) and the Kernel transformation of the data as an appropriate feature extraction that improves the generalization of dendritic computing classifiers. We obtain a big increase in classification performance applying with this schema over a database of features extracted from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) including Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and control subjects. <s> BIB004 </s> A survey of multiple classifier systems as hybrid systems <s> Neuroscience <s> Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides a spatially accurate measure of brain activity. Real-time classification allows the use of fMRI in neurofeedback experiments. With limited labelled data available, a fixed pre-trained classifier may be inaccurate. We propose that streaming fMRI data may be classified using a classifier ensemble which is updated through naive labelling. Naive labelling is a protocol where in the absence of ground truth, updates are carried out using the label assigned by the classifier. We perform experiments on three fMRI datasets to demonstrate that naive labelling is able to improve upon a pre-trained initial classifier. <s> BIB005 </s> A survey of multiple classifier systems as hybrid systems <s> Neuroscience <s> Decoding perceptual or cognitive states based on brain activity measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be achieved using machine learning algorithms to train classifiers of specific stimuli. However, the high dimensionality and intrinsically low signal to noise ratio (SNR) of fMRI data poses great challenges to such techniques. The problem is aggravated in the case of multiple subject experiments because of the high inter-subject variability in brain function. To address these difficulties, the majority of current approaches uses a single classifier. Since, in many cases, different stimuli activate different brain areas, it makes sense to use a set of classifiers each specialized in a different stimulus. Therefore, we propose in this paper using an ensemble of classifiers for decoding fMRI data. Each classifier in the ensemble has a favorite class or stimulus and uses an optimized feature set for that particular stimulus. The output for each individual stimulus is therefore obtained from the corresponding classifier and the final classification is achieved by simply selecting the best score. The method was applied to three empirical fMRI datasets from multiple subjects performing visual tasks with four classes of stimuli. Ensembles of GNB and k-NN base classifiers were tested. The ensemble of classifiers systematically outperformed a single classifier for the two most challenging datasets. In the remaining dataset, a ceiling effect was observed which probably precluded a clear distinction between the two classification approaches. Our results may be explained by the fact that different visual stimuli elicit specific patterns of brain activation and indicate that an ensemble of classifiers provides an advantageous alternative to commonly used single classifiers, particularly when decoding stimuli associated with specific brain areas. <s> BIB006
In the field of Neurosciences, the machine learning approach is gaining widespread acceptation. It is used for the classification of image data searching for predictive non-invasive biomarkers that may allow early or prodromal diagnosis of a number of degenerative diseases which have increasing impact in the society due to the aging of populations around the world. Diverse MCS approaches have been applied to structural MRI data, specifically for the classification of Alzheimer disease patients, such as an RVM based two stage pipeline BIB002 , variations of Adaboost BIB003 , hybridizations of kernel and Dendritic Computing approaches BIB004 . Classifier Ensembles have been applied to the classification of fMRI data BIB001 BIB005 and its visual decoding BIB006 , which is the reconstruction of the visual stimuli from the fMRI data.