Brain-computer interfaces inspired spiking neural network model for depression stage identification

Background: Depression is a global mental disorder, and traditional diagnostic methods mainly rely on scales and subjective evaluations by doctors, which cannot effectively identify symptoms and even carry the risk of misdiagnosis. Brain-Computer Interfaces inspired deep learning-assisted diagnosis based on physiological signals holds promise for improving traditional methods lacking physiological basis and leads next generation neuro-technologies. However, traditional deep learning methods rely on immense computational power and mostly involve end-to-end network learning. These learning methods also lack physiological interpretability, limiting their clinical application in assisted diagnosis.

Methodology: A brain-like learning model for diagnosing depression using electroencephalogram (EEG) is proposed. The study collects EEG data using 128-channel electrodes, producing a 128×128 brain adjacency matrix. Given the assumption of undirected connectivity, the upper half of the 128×128 matrix is chosen in order to minimise the input parameter size, producing 8,128-dimensional data. After eliminating 28 components derived from irrelevant or reference electrodes, a 90×90 matrix is produced, which can be used as an input for a single-channel brain-computer interface image.

Result: At the functional level, a spiking neural network is constructed to classify individuals with depression and healthy individuals, achieving an accuracy exceeding 97.5 %.

Comparison with existing methods: Compared to deep convolutional methods, the spiking method reduces energy consumption.

Conclusion: At the structural level, complex networks are utilized to establish spatial topology of brain connections and analyse their graph features, identifying potential abnormal brain functional connections in individuals with depression.