Causal Analysis of Physiological Sleep Data Using Granger Causality and Score-Based Structure Learning

Bibliographic Details
Title: Causal Analysis of Physiological Sleep Data Using Granger Causality and Score-Based Structure Learning
Authors: Alex Thomas, Mahesan Niranjan, Julian Legg
Source: Sensors, Vol 23, Iss 23, p 9455 (2023)
Publisher Information: MDPI AG, 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Chemical technology
Subject Terms: causality, polysomnography, sleep medicine, structure learning, Chemical technology, TP1-1185
More Details: Understanding how the human body works during sleep and how this varies in the population is a task with significant implications for medicine. Polysomnographic studies, or sleep studies, are a common diagnostic method that produces a significant quantity of time-series sensor data. This study seeks to learn the causal structure from data from polysomnographic studies carried out on 600 adult volunteers in the United States. Two methods are used to learn the causal structure of these data: the well-established Granger causality and “DYNOTEARS”, a modern approach that uses continuous optimisation to learn dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs). The results from the two methods are then compared. Both methods produce graphs that have a number of similarities, including the mutual causation between electrooculogram (EOG) and electroencephelogram (EEG) signals and between sleeping position and SpO2 (blood oxygen level). However, DYNOTEARS, unlike Granger causality, frequently finds a causal link to sleeping position from the other variables. Following the creation of these causal graphs, the relationship between the discovered causal structure and the characteristics of the participants is explored. It is found that there is an association between the waist size of a participant and whether a causal link is found between the electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement and the EOG and EEG measurements. It is concluded that a person’s body shape appears to impact the relationship between their heart and brain during sleep and that Granger causality and DYNOTEARS can produce differing results on real-world data.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1424-8220
Relation: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/23/9455; https://doaj.org/toc/1424-8220
DOI: 10.3390/s23239455
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/b32aa1cf97af49b5958276b8ac087d21
Accession Number: edsdoj.b32aa1cf97af49b5958276b8ac087d21
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
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More Details
ISSN:14248220
DOI:10.3390/s23239455
Published in:Sensors
Language:English