Deep reasoning neural network analysis to predict language deficits from psychometry‐driven DWI connectome of young children with persistent language concerns

This study investigated whether current state‐of‐the‐art deep reasoning network analysis on psychometry‐driven diffusion tractography connectome can accurately predict expressive and receptive language scores in a cohort of young children with persistent language concerns (n = 31, age: 4.25 ± 2.38 years). A dilated convolutional neural network combined with a relational network (dilated CNN + RN) was trained to reason the nonlinear relationship between “dilated CNN features of language network” and “clinically acquired language score”. Three‐fold cross‐validation was then used to compare the Pearson correlation and mean absolute error (MAE) between dilated CNN + RN‐predicted and actual language scores. The dilated CNN + RN outperformed other methods providing the most significant correlation between predicted and actual scores (i.e., Pearson's R/p‐value: 1.00/<.001 and .99/<.001 for expressive and receptive language scores, respectively) and yielding MAE: 0.28 and 0.28 for the same scores. The strength of the relationship suggests elevated probability in the prediction of both expressive and receptive language scores (i.e., 1.00 and 1.00, respectively). Specifically, sparse connectivity not only within the right precentral gyrus but also involving the right caudate had the strongest relationship between deficit in both the expressive and receptive language domains. Subsequent subgroup analyses inferred that the effectiveness of the dilated CNN + RN‐based prediction of language score(s) was independent of time interval (between MRI and language assessment) and age of MRI, suggesting that the dilated CNN + RN using psychometry‐driven diffusion tractography connectome may be useful for prediction of the presence of language disorder, and possibly provide a better understanding of the neurological mechanisms of language deficits in young children.