The Constrained Network-Based Statistic: A New Level of Inference for Neuroimaging

Stephanie Noble, Dustin Scheinost

Abstract: Neuroimaging research aimed at dissecting the network organization of the brain is poised to flourish under major initiatives, but converging evidence suggests more accurate inferential procedures are needed to promote discovery. Inference is typically performed at the cluster level with a network-based statistic (NBS) that boosts power by leveraging known dependence within the local neighborhood. However, existing NBS methods overlook another important form of dependence—shared membership in large-scale brain networks.