Identification and analysis of behavioral phenotypes in autism spectrum disorder via unsupervised machine learning.

Journal: International journal of medical informatics
Published Date:

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous disorder. Research has explored potential ASD subgroups with preliminary evidence supporting the existence of behaviorally and genetically distinct subgroups; however, research has yet to leverage machine learning to identify phenotypes on a scale large enough to robustly examine treatment response across such subgroups. The purpose of the present study was to apply Gaussian Mixture Models and Hierarchical Clustering to identify behavioral phenotypes of ASD and examine treatment response across the learned phenotypes.

Authors

  • Elizabeth Stevens
    Chapman University, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Orange, CA, United States.
  • Dennis R Dixon
    Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Woodland Hills, CA, United States.
  • Marlena N Novack
    Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Woodland Hills, CA, United States.
  • Doreen Granpeesheh
    Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Woodland Hills, CA, United States.
  • Tristram Smith
    University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, United States.
  • Erik Linstead
    Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA.