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%matplotlib inline

Simulate raw data using subject anatomy

This example illustrates how to generate source estimates and simulate raw data using subject anatomy with the :class:mne.simulation.SourceSimulator class. Once the raw data is simulated, generated source estimates are reconstructed using dynamic statistical parametric mapping (dSPM) inverse operator.


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# Author: Ivana Kojcic <ivana.kojcic@gmail.com>
#         Eric Larson <larson.eric.d@gmail.com>
#         Kostiantyn Maksymenko <kostiantyn.maksymenko@gmail.com>
#         Samuel Deslauriers-Gauthier <sam.deslauriers@gmail.com>

# License: BSD (3-clause)

import os.path as op

import numpy as np

import mne
from mne.datasets import sample

print(__doc__)

# To simulate the sample dataset, information of the sample subject needs to be
# loaded. This step will download the data if it not already on your machine.
# Subjects directory is also set so it doesn't need to be given to functions.
data_path = sample.data_path()
subjects_dir = op.join(data_path, 'subjects')
subject = 'sample'
meg_path = op.join(data_path, 'MEG', subject)

# First, we get an info structure from the sample subject.
fname_info = op.join(meg_path, 'sample_audvis_raw.fif')
info = mne.io.read_info(fname_info)
tstep = 1 / info['sfreq']

# To simulate sources, we also need a source space. It can be obtained from the
# forward solution of the sample subject.
fwd_fname = op.join(meg_path, 'sample_audvis-meg-eeg-oct-6-fwd.fif')
fwd = mne.read_forward_solution(fwd_fname)
src = fwd['src']

# To simulate raw data, we need to define when the activity occurs using events
# matrix and specify the IDs of each event.
# Noise covariance matrix also needs to be defined.
# Here, both are loaded from the sample dataset, but they can also be specified
# by the user.

fname_event = op.join(meg_path, 'sample_audvis_raw-eve.fif')
fname_cov = op.join(meg_path, 'sample_audvis-cov.fif')

events = mne.read_events(fname_event)
noise_cov = mne.read_cov(fname_cov)

# Standard sample event IDs. These values will correspond to the third column
# in the events matrix.
event_id = {'auditory/left': 1, 'auditory/right': 2, 'visual/left': 3,
            'visual/right': 4, 'smiley': 5, 'button': 32}

In order to simulate source time courses, labels of desired active regions need to be specified for each of the 4 simulation conditions. Make a dictionary that maps conditions to activation strengths within aparc.a2009s [1]_ labels. In the aparc.a2009s parcellation:

  • 'G_temp_sup-G_T_transv' is the label for primary auditory area
  • 'S_calcarine' is the label for primary visual area

In each of the 4 conditions, only the primary area is activated. This means that during the activations of auditory areas, there are no activations in visual areas and vice versa. Moreover, for each condition, contralateral region is more active (here, 2 times more) than the ipsilateral.


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activations = {
    'auditory/left':
        [('G_temp_sup-G_T_transv-lh', 100),          # label, activation (nAm)
         ('G_temp_sup-G_T_transv-rh', 200)],
    'auditory/right':
        [('G_temp_sup-G_T_transv-lh', 200),
         ('G_temp_sup-G_T_transv-rh', 100)],
    'visual/left':
        [('S_calcarine-lh', 100),
         ('S_calcarine-rh', 200)],
    'visual/right':
        [('S_calcarine-lh', 200),
         ('S_calcarine-rh', 100)],
}

annot = 'aparc.a2009s'

# Load the 4 necessary label names.
label_names = sorted(set(activation[0]
                         for activation_list in activations.values()
                         for activation in activation_list))
region_names = list(activations.keys())

#  Define the time course of the activity for each region to activate. We use a
#  sine wave and it will be the same for all 4 regions.
source_time_series = np.sin(np.linspace(0, 4 * np.pi, 100)) * 10e-9

Create simulated source activity

Here, :class:~mne.simulation.SourceSimulator is used, which allows to specify where (label), what (source_time_series), and when (events) event type will occur.

We will add data for 4 areas, each of which contains 2 labels. Since add_data method accepts 1 label per call, it will be called 2 times per area. All activations will contain the same waveform, but the amplitude will be 2 times higher in the contralateral label, as explained before.

When the activity occurs is defined using events. In this case, they are taken from the original raw data. The first column is the sample of the event, the second is not used. The third one is the event id, which is different for each of the 4 areas.


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source_simulator = mne.simulation.SourceSimulator(src, tstep=tstep)
for region_id, region_name in enumerate(region_names, 1):
    events_tmp = events[np.where(events[:, 2] == region_id)[0], :]
    for i in range(2):
        label_name = activations[region_name][i][0]
        label_tmp = mne.read_labels_from_annot(subject, annot,
                                               subjects_dir=subjects_dir,
                                               regexp=label_name,
                                               verbose=False)
        label_tmp = label_tmp[0]
        amplitude_tmp = activations[region_name][i][1]
        source_simulator.add_data(label_tmp,
                                  amplitude_tmp * source_time_series,
                                  events_tmp)

# To obtain a SourceEstimate object, we need to use `get_stc()` method of
# SourceSimulator class.
stc_data = source_simulator.get_stc()

Simulate raw data

Project the source time series to sensor space. Three types of noise will be added to the simulated raw data:

  • multivariate Gaussian noise obtained from the noise covariance from the sample data
  • blink (EOG) noise
  • ECG noise

The :class:~mne.simulation.SourceSimulator can be given directly to the :func:~mne.simulation.simulate_raw function.


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raw_sim = mne.simulation.simulate_raw(info, source_simulator, forward=fwd,
                                      cov=None)
raw_sim.set_eeg_reference(projection=True).crop(0, 60)  # for speed

mne.simulation.add_noise(raw_sim, cov=noise_cov, random_state=0)
mne.simulation.add_eog(raw_sim, random_state=0)
mne.simulation.add_ecg(raw_sim, random_state=0)

# Plot original and simulated raw data.
raw_sim.plot(title='Simulated raw data')

Reconstruct simulated source time courses using dSPM inverse operator

Here, source time courses for auditory and visual areas are reconstructed separately and their difference is shown. This was done merely for better visual representation of source reconstruction. As expected, when high activations appear in primary auditory areas, primary visual areas will have low activations and vice versa.


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method, lambda2 = 'dSPM', 1. / 9.
epochs = mne.Epochs(raw_sim, events, event_id)
inv = mne.minimum_norm.make_inverse_operator(epochs.info, fwd, noise_cov)
stc_aud = mne.minimum_norm.apply_inverse(
    epochs['auditory/left'].average(), inv, lambda2, method)
stc_vis = mne.minimum_norm.apply_inverse(
    epochs['visual/right'].average(), inv, lambda2, method)
stc_diff = stc_aud - stc_vis

brain = stc_diff.plot(subjects_dir=subjects_dir, initial_time=0.1,
                      hemi='split', views=['lat', 'med'])

References

.. [1] Destrieux C, Fischl B, Dale A, Halgren E (2010). Automatic parcellation of human cortical gyri and sulci using standard anatomical nomenclature, vol. 53(1), 1-15, NeuroImage.