DouGNN: An End-to-End Deep Learning Framework for Predicting Individual Behaviors from fMRI Data

Predicting individual behavior from functional connectivity (FC) using machine learning is a critical research topic in neuroscience. While various models have been proposed, they mainly focus on designing behavior prediction methods, overlooking the influence of upstream FC network construction approach on downstream tasks. In this paper, leveraging graph neural networks (GNNs), we introduce an end-to-end deep learning framework named DouGNN, aimed at learning individual behavior from fMRI data. Through joint training of two GNNs, DouGNN innovatively integrates individualized cortical parcellation (for FC network construction) and individual behavior prediction into a unified optimization model. By integrating individualized cortical parcellation, the model gains the ability to dynamically modify the subject’s cortical parcellation and the downstream tasks. This enhancement enables the subsequently constructed FC networks to better represent individual-specific features and task-related characteristics, thereby significantly improving the performance of individual behavior prediction. Moreover, the generated individual-specific, task-aware cortical parcellations from this process can also help us in understanding the relationship between FC and behaviors. We conducted three representative behavior prediction experiments on the publicly available HCP dataset. The results demonstrate that DouGNN outperforms existing methods in all behavior prediction tasks, achieving superior performance and generating more functionally homogeneous individualized cortical parcellations.