EEG Processing (HPC-BODDY)

In the framework of the leeduca project and two funded projects (PGC2018-098813-B-C32 and PSI2015-65848-R), this research line is focused in the development of computer aided diagnosis tools for developmental dyslexia. This is addressed in two different ways. On the one hand, the leeduca platform (developed during the PSI2015-65848-R project) allows to collect and proccess massive data from neuropsychological tests that measure behavioural variables. Currently, more than 3000 children have been evaluated using these tests. On the other hand, project PGC2018-098813-B-C32 is focused on the diagnosis of dyslexia by means of non-invasive electroencephalography signals (EEG) and fNIRS data using non-interactive revolutionary stimulation techniques. Some of the currently published works as well as project details are listed below.

 

Current project: High-Performance Computing in Functional Biomarker Analysis Applied to Developmental Dyslexia Diagnosis and Prediction (HPC-BODDY)

Funded Research Project – PGC2018-098813-B-C32. Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2018. Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades

Abstract

The search of effective and practical solutions for real-life problems usually requires the exploitation of large amounts of data. Fortunately, current information systems allow collecting detailed data from many diverse information sources. Nevertheless, exploiting such large amounts of data transforming them from simple raw facts to significant knowledge is a challenging task, especially in biomedical-related problems. This is the case of the diagnosis and prognosis of learning difficulties such as developmental dyslexia (DD), which presents a prevalence of between 5% and 12% and may help to explain a good part of school failure cases. The diagnosis of DD and the exploration of its neural bases could allow the development of specific, adaptive and individualized intervention methods but accurate results require not only conductual and neuropsychological data but also the use of biomedical signals.
This project can be seen as a natural extension of our previous projects. Thus, in the PSI2015-65848-R project a big data platform (LEEDUCA) has been developed where a very large amount of neuropsychological test can be conducted, stored and processed. This has then been reinforced, funded by the UNMA15-CE-3657 project, with the purchase of last generation active electroencephalography (EEG) and Functional Near Infrarred Spectroscopy (fNIRS) equipments as well as a high-performance computing (HPC) platform. As a consequence, the LEEDUCA database, with the support of the regional government (Junta de Andalucía), currently accounts test results
from more than 4000 students (4, 5, 6 and 7 year-old) at different schools, and EEG and fNIRS data have been employed to build models of DD by means of machine learning techniques.
The current project aims to extract the knowledge contained in biomedical signals, namely EEG and fNIRS. This further requires the development of specific feature extraction and classification techniques along with the construction of models of DD based on signal processing, statistical learning and deep learning methods to leverage and outperform the accuracy provided by current neuropsychological tests in the diagnosis and prognosis of DD. Additionally, due to the vast amount of multi-modal data to be processed and the need to analyze a myriad of alternatives, high-performance computing methods will have to be employed.
The multidisciplinary profile of the research team of this project makes it possible the exploration of new alternatives to tackle the learning difficulties and for the design of effective intervention tools with a strong neural basis. The methods developed in this project will be transferred to the society through schools, facilitating their clinical use and moving towards more individualized interventions, representing a turning point in the treatment of learning difficulties and its corresponding socioeconomic implications.

Current Publications (Indexed Journals)

  • Gallego-Molina, N., Ortiz, A., Martinez-Murcia, F.J., Rodriguez-Rodriguez, I., Luque, J.L.  Assessing Functional Brain Network Dynamics in Dyslexia From fNIRS Data. International Journal of Neural Systems. 2023. Accepted for Publication.
  • Arco, J.E., Ortiz, A., Górriz, J.M., Ramírez, J., Castillo-Barnés, D. Ensembling shallow siamese architectures to assess functional asymmetry in Alzheimer’s disease progression. Applied Soft Computing. Vol 134, 2023. pp. 1-14
  • Arco, J.E., Ortiz, A., Gorriz, J.M., Ramírez, J. Enhancing multimodal patterns in neuroimaging by siamese neural network with self-attention mechanism. International Journal of Neural Systems. Accepted for publication
  • Francisco J. Martinez-Murcia, N. Gallego-Molina, A. Ortiz, Marco A. Formoso, D. Castillo-Barne, J.M. Gorriz, J. Ramirez, P.J. Lopez-Perez, J.L. Luque. Groovy Brains: Abnormal EEG Entrainment to Speech Rhythmic Patterns Allows the Detection of Dyslexia. Under review
  • Arco, J.E., Ortiz, A., Zhang, Y., Górriz, J.M., Ramírez, J.. Probabilistic combination of non-linear eigenprojections for ensemble classification. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, 2022, Vol. (1), pp. 1-15.
  • Arco, J.E., Ortiz, A., Zhang, Y., Górriz, J.M., Ramírez, J. Uncertainty-driven ensembles of multi-scale deep architectures for image classification. Information Fusion, 2022, Vol. (1), pp. 1-13.
  • Gallego-Molina, N.J., Ortiz, A., Martinez Murcia, F.J., Formoso, A., Giménez. Complex network modelling of EEG band coupling in dyslexia: an exploratory analysis of auditory processing and diagnosis. Knowledge-Based Systems. 2022,  vol. 240, 108098. pp. 1-26.
  • Formoso, M.A., Ortiz, A., Martinez-Murcia, F.J., Gallego, N., Luque, J.L. Detecting Phase-synchrony Connectivity Anomalies in EEG signals. Application to Dyslexia Diagnosis.  Sensors, 21(7061), pp.1-20
  • Aquino-Brítez, D., Ortiz, A., Ortega, J., León, J., Formoso, M., Gan, J. Q., & Escobar, J. J. (2021). Optimization of Deep Architectures for EEG Signal Classification: An AutoML Approach Using Evolutionary Algorithms. Sensors, 21(6), 2096.
  • León, J., Escobar, J.J., Ortiz, A., Ortega, J., Martín-Smith, P., Q. Gan, J., Damas, M., González, J.:»Deep learning for EEG-based Motor Imagery classification: accuracy-cost trade-off». PLOS ONE, 2020.
  • Górriz, J.M., Ramírez, Ortiz, A., Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Segovia, F. et al.:»Artificial intelligence within the interplay between natural and artificial Computation: advances in data science, trends and applications». Neurocomputing, 2020.
  • Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Ortiz, A., Górriz, J.M., Ramírez, López-Pérez, Pedro J. and Luque. «EEG Connectivity Analysis Using Denoising Autoencoders for the Detection of Dyslexia». Intenational Journal of Neural Systems. 2020
  • Ortiz, A., Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Luque, J., Giménez, A., Morales-Ortega, R., Ortega, J. «Dyslexia diagnosis by EEG temporal and spectral descriptors: an anomaly detection approach». International Journal of Neural Systems. 2020
  •  

International Conferences

A. Tahmassebi, K. Mueller, U. Meyer-Baese, J. Munilla, A. Ortiz, and A. Meyer-Baese “Graph signal processing to identify biomarkers in brain networks in dementia”, Proc. SPIE 12036, Medical Imaging 2022:
Biomedical Applications in Molecular, Structural, and Functional Imaging, 1203615 (4 April 2022)
 
Munilla, J., Ortiz, A., Alsafi, H., Luque, J.L.:”Enhanced Computation of the EEG-IC Polarities using a Genetic Algorithm”. 11th International Conference on Smart Computing and Artificial Intelligence.2022

  • Ortiz, A., Arco, J.E., Formoso, M.A., Gallego-Molina, N.J. 1,3, Rodrı́guez-Rodrı́guez, I., Martı́nez-Murcia, F.J., Górriz, J. M., Ramı́rez, J.:”Towards mixed mode biomarkers: combining structural and functional information by deep learning”. 9th International Work-Conference on the Interplay Between Natural and Artificial Computation. IWINAC 2022
  • Formoso, M.A., Ortiz, A., Martı́nez-Murcia, F.J.,Aquino-Brı́tez, D., Escobar, Juan J., Luque, J.L.:”Temporal phase synchrony disruption in Dyslexia: anomaly patterns in auditory processing”. 9th International Work-Conference on the Interplay Between Natural and Artificial Computation. IWINAC 2022
  • Rodrı́guez-Rodrı́guez, I., Ortiz, A., Formoso, M.A., Gallego-Molina, N,J., Luque, J.L.:”Inter-channel Granger causality for estimating EEG phase connectivity patterns in dyslexia”. 9th International Work-Conference on the Interplay Between Natural and Artificial Computation. IWINAC 2022
  • Gallego-Molina, N.J., Ortiz, A., Martı́nez-Murcia, F.J., Rodrı́guez-Rodrı́guez, I.:”Unraveling dyslexia-related connectivity patterns in EEG signals by Holo-Hilbert spectral
    analysis”. 9th International Work-Conference on the Interplay Between Natural and Artificial Computation. IWINAC 2022
  • Ortega, A., Escobar, Juan J., Damas, M., Ortiz, A., González, J.:”Ant Colony Optimization for Feature Selection via a Filter-Randomized Search Heuristic”. The Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO), 2022.
  • León, J., Escobar, J.J., González, J., Ortega, J., Arrabal-Campos, M., Ortiz, A., Damas, M.:”Recurrent neural networks and efficiency in high-dimensional EEG classification”. International Conference on Bioengineering, Biomedical Signal and Image Processing (BIOMESIP). 2021
  • Gómez-López, J.C., Escobar, J.J., González, J., Gil-Montoya, F., Ortega, J., Burmester, M., Damas, M.:»Energy-Time Profiling for machine learning methods to EEG classification».International Conference on Bioengineering, Biomedical Signal and Image Processing (BIOMESIP). 2021.
  • Ortega, A.,  Escobar, J.J., Ortega, J., González, J., Alcayde, A., Munilla, J., Damas, M.:»Performance Study of Ant Colony Optimization for Feature Selection in EEG Classification». International Conference on Bioengineering, Biomedical Signal and Image Processing (BIOMESIP). 2021.
  • Formoso, A. Ortiz, A. Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Gallego, N., Luque, J.L., Escobar, J.J., Montoya, Francisco G.:”Modelling Brain Connectivity Networks by Graph Embedding for Dyslexia Diagnosis”. International Conference on Bioengineering, Biomedical Signal and Image Processing (BIOMESIP). 2021.
  • Gallego, N., Formoso, M., Ortiz, A., Martinez-Murcia, F.J., Luque, J.:”Temporal EigenPAC for dyslexia diagnosis”. International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, IWANN 2021
  • León, J., Damas, M., González, J., Ortega, J.:»Cost-efficiency of Convolutional Neural Networks for high-dimensional EEG classification «. The 15th International Conference on Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Systems (HAIS). 2020
  • Ortiz, A., Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Luque, J., Sanchez, A.:»Dyslexia detection from EEG signals using SSA component correlation and Convolutional Neural Networks». The 15th International Conference on Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Systems (HAIS). 2020
  • Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Ortiz, A., Lopez-Zamora, M., Luque, J., Giménez. A.:»A Neural Approach to Ordinal Regression for the Preventive Assessment of Developmental Dyslexia». The 15th International Conference on Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Systems (HAIS). 2020
  • Luque, J.L., Ortiz, A., Cobo, M.A., Giménez, A., López-Pérez, P.J., López-Zamora, M., Sánchez, A.:»A Multiple Risk Factor study on the Prediction of Reading Learning Difficulties for Spanish Children Ages 4-7 and 5-8″. IWORDD 2019 International Workshop on Reading and Developmental Dyslexia
  • Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Ortiz, A., Morales-Ortega, R., López, J.L., Luque, J.L., Castillo-Barnés, D., Ortega, J.:»Periodogram Connectivity of EEG Signals for the Detection of Dyslexia». 8th Work-Conference on the Interplay between. Natural and Artificial Computation (IWINAC 2019)
  • Ortiz, A., López, P.J., Juque, J.L., Martínez-Murcia, F.J., Aquino-Britez, D., Ortega, J.:»An Anomaly Detection Approach for Dyslexia Diagnosis Using EEG Signals». 8th Work-Conference on the Interplay between. Natural and Artificial Computation (IWINAC 2019)
  • León, J., Ortega, J., Ortiz, A.:»Convolutional Neural Networks and Feature Selection for BCI with Multiresolution Analysis». International Work-Conference on Artificial and Natural Neural Networks (IWANN 2019)
 
 

Current research lines

Functional Connectivity

 

Brain Synchronization

Deep Learning models

Spiking Neural Networks

Former Ph.D. Students

  • Diego Aquino-Britez. Optimization of Deep Convolutional models for EEG classification.
  • Roberto Morales-Ortega. EEG Classiffication for Dyslexia Diagnosis from an anomaly detection perspective.
  • Nicolás J. Gallego-Molina
  • Marco A. Formoso Trigo