Figure 3.

Important features learned by top performing models for ASD diagnosis at each level of BASC atlas (ROI) granularity with coarse-grained atlas (A), medium-grained (B), and fine-grained (C). Each feature captures the functional connectivity between two brain regions and is given a distinct color based on the function of the region pair. Connections between sensorimotor ROIs are shown in blue, while connections between language ROIs are in red. Connections between regions that are neither motor nor language are in yellow. A connection between language (red) and motor (blue) ROIs is shown with an intermediate hue (i.e. purple) and similarly for other region function combinations. For each important feature, an independent sample two tailed t test testing for a difference in that feature amongst ASD subjects vs. TD subjects was performed. Those that were found to be significant at p ≤ 0.05 were additionally marked as increased in ASD (+) and hashed lighter or decreased in ASD (−) and hashed darker. Those connections that were found not to be significantly different in ASD vs. TD were marked with a (o) and are presumed to be important features only in a multivariate combination with other features. The corresponding p-values (FDR corrected at 0.01) for the calculated PFI of the median model are significant for all displayed features. This indicates the importances are greater than what would be found by chance due to the random permutations in the PFI approach alone. For each feature, if all 5 of the interrogated models had a z-scored importance ≥ 3, the median feature is marked with a red star, if four had a z-scored importance ≥ 3, the median feature is marked with a black diamond^63,64.