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Patricia Reynaud-Bouret

Publications and source records attributed to Patricia Reynaud-Bouret.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Microscopic approach of a time elapsed neural model

The spike trains are the main components of the information processing in the brain. To model spike trains several point processes have been investigated in the literature. And more macroscopic approaches have also been studied, using partial differential equation models. The main aim of the present article is to build a bridge between several point processes models (Poisson, Wold, Hawkes) that have been proved to statistically fit real spike trains data and age-structured partial differential equations as introduced by Pakdaman, Perthame and Salort.

cs.NE↗

Bootstrap and permutation tests of independence for point processes

Motivated by a neuroscience question about synchrony detection in spike train analysis, we deal with the independence testing problem for point processes. We introduce non-parametric test statistics, which are rescaled general $U$-statistics, whose corresponding critical values are constructed from bootstrap and randomization/permutation approaches, making as few assumptions as possible on the underlying distribution of the point processes. We derive general consistency results for the bootstrap and for the permutation w.r.t. to Wasserstein's metric, which induce weak convergence as well as convergence of second order moments. The obtained bootstrap or permutation independence tests are thus proved to be asymptotically of the prescribed size, and to be consistent against any reasonable alternative. A simulation study is performed to illustrate the derived theoretical results, and to compare the performance of our new tests with existing ones in the neuroscientific literature.

math.ST↗

A Distribution Free Unitary Events Method based on Delayed Coincidence Count

We investigate several distribution free dependence detection procedures, mainly based on bootstrap principles and their approximation properties. Thanks to this study, we introduce a new distribution free Unitary Events (UE) method, named Permutation UE, which consists in a multiple testing procedure based on permutation and delayed coincidence count. Each involved single test of this procedure achieves the prescribed level, so that the corresponding multiple testing procedure controls the False Discovery Rate (FDR), and this with as few assumptions as possible on the underneath distribution. Some simulations show that this method outperforms the trial-shuffling and the MTGAUE method in terms of single levels and FDR, for a comparable amount of false negatives. Application on real data is also provided.

stat.AP↗

Lasso and probabilistic inequalities for multivariate point processes

Due to its low computational cost, Lasso is an attractive regularization method for high-dimensional statistical settings. In this paper, we consider multivariate counting processes depending on an unknown function parameter to be estimated by linear combinations of a fixed dictionary. To select coefficients, we propose an adaptive $\ell_1$-penalization methodology, where data-driven weights of the penalty are derived from new Bernstein type inequalities for martingales. Oracle inequalities are established under assumptions on the Gram matrix of the dictionary. Nonasymptotic probabilistic results for multivariate Hawkes processes are proven, which allows us to check these assumptions by considering general dictionaries based on histograms, Fourier or wavelet bases. Motivated by problems of neuronal activity inference, we finally carry out a simulation study for multivariate Hawkes processes and compare our methodology with the adaptive Lasso procedure proposed by Zou in (J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 101 (2006) 1418-1429). We observe an excellent behavior of our procedure. We rely on theoretical aspects for the essential question of tuning our methodology. Unlike adaptive Lasso of (J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 101 (2006) 1418-1429), our tuning procedure is proven to be robust with respect to all the parameters of the problem, revealing its potential for concrete purposes, in particular in neuroscience.

math.ST↗

The two-sample problem for Poisson processes: adaptive tests with a non-asymptotic wild bootstrap approach

Considering two independent Poisson processes, we address the question of testing equality of their respective intensities. We first propose single tests whose test statistics are U-statistics based on general kernel functions. The corresponding critical values are constructed from a non-asymptotic wild bootstrap approach, leading to level αtests. Various choices for the kernel functions are possible, including projection, approximation or reproducing kernels. In this last case, we obtain a parametric rate of testing for a weak metric defined in the RKHS associated with the considered reproducing kernel. Then we introduce, in the other cases, an aggregation procedure, which allows us to import ideas coming from model selection, thresholding and/or approximation kernels adaptive estimation. The resulting multiple tests are proved to be of level α, and to satisfy non-asymptotic oracle type conditions for the classical L2-norm. From these conditions, we deduce that they are adaptive in the minimax sense over a large variety of classes of alternatives based on classical and weak Besov bodies in the univariate case, but also Sobolev and anisotropic Nikol'skii-Besov balls in the multivariate case.

math.ST↗

Nonparametric estimation of the division rate of a size-structured population

We consider the problem of estimating the division rate of a size-structured population in a nonparametric setting. The size of the system evolves according to a transport-fragmentation equation: each individual grows with a given transport rate, and splits into two offsprings of the same size, following a binary fragmentation process with unknown division rate that depends on its size. In contrast to a deterministic inverse problem approach, as in (Perthame, Zubelli, 2007) and (Doumic, Perthame, Zubelli, 2009), we take in this paper the perspective of statistical inference: our data consists in a large sample of the size of individuals, when the evolution of the system is close to its time-asymptotic behavior, so that it can be related to the eigenproblem of the considered transport-fragmentation equation (see \cite{PR} for instance). By estimating statistically each term of the eigenvalue problem and by suitably inverting a certain linear operator (see previously quoted articles), we are able to construct a more realistic estimator of the division rate that achieves the same optimal error bound as in related deterministic inverse problems. Our procedure relies on kernel methods with automatic bandwidth selection. It is inspired by model selection and recent results of Goldenschluger and Lepski.

math.ST↗

Adaptive estimation for Hawkes processes; application to genome analysis

The aim of this paper is to provide a new method for the detection of either favored or avoided distances between genomic events along DNA sequences. These events are modeled by a Hawkes process. The biological problem is actually complex enough to need a nonasymptotic penalized model selection approach. We provide a theoretical penalty that satisfies an oracle inequality even for quite complex families of models. The consecutive theoretical estimator is shown to be adaptive minimax for Hölderian functions with regularity in $(1/2,1]$: those aspects have not yet been studied for the Hawkes' process. Moreover, we introduce an efficient strategy, named Islands, which is not classically used in model selection, but that happens to be particularly relevant to the biological question we want to answer. Since a multiplicative constant in the theoretical penalty is not computable in practice, we provide extensive simulations to find a data-driven calibration of this constant. The results obtained on real genomic data are coherent with biological knowledge and eventually refine them.

math.ST↗

Adaptive density estimation: a curse of support?

This paper deals with the classical problem of density estimation on the real line. Most of the existing papers devoted to minimax properties assume that the support of the underlying density is bounded and known. But this assumption may be very difficult to handle in practice. In this work, we show that, exactly as a curse of dimensionality exists when the data lie in $\R^d$, there exists a curse of support as well when the support of the density is infinite. As for the dimensionality problem where the rates of convergence deteriorate when the dimension grows, the minimax rates of convergence may deteriorate as well when the support becomes infinite. This problem is not purely theoretical since the simulations show that the support-dependent methods are really affected in practice by the size of the density support, or by the weight of the density tail. We propose a method based on a biorthogonal wavelet thresholding rule that is adaptive with respect to the nature of the support and the regularity of the signal, but that is also robust in practice to this curse of support. The threshold, that is proposed here, is very accurately calibrated so that the gap between optimal theoretical and practical tuning parameters is almost filled.

math.ST↗

Calibration of thresholding rules for Poisson intensity estimation

In this paper, we deal with the problem of calibrating thresholding rules in the setting of Poisson intensity estimation. By using sharp concentration inequalities, oracle inequalities are derived and we establish the optimality of our estimate up to a logarithmic term. This result is proved under mild assumptions and we do not impose any condition on the support of the signal to be estimated. Our procedure is based on data-driven thresholds. As usual, they depend on a threshold parameter $γ$ whose optimal value is hard to estimate from the data. Our main concern is to provide some theoretical and numerical results to handle this issue. In particular, we establish the existence of a minimal threshold parameter from the theoretical point of view: taking $γ<1$ deteriorates oracle performances of our procedure. In the same spirit, we establish the existence of a maximal threshold parameter and our theoretical results point out the optimal range $γ\in[1,12]$. Then, we lead a numerical study that shows that choosing $γ$ larger than 1 but close to 1 is a fairly good choice. Finally, we compare our procedure with classical ones revealing the harmful role of the support of functions when estimated by classical procedures.

math.ST↗

Near optimal thresholding estimation of a Poisson intensity on the real line

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the intensity of a Poisson process $N$ by using thresholding rules. In this paper, the intensity, defined as the derivative of the mean measure of $N$ with respect to $ndx$ where $n$ is a fixed parameter, is assumed to be non-compactly supported. The estimator $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$ based on random thresholds is proved to achieve the same performance as the oracle estimator up to a possible logarithmic term. Then, minimax properties of $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$ on Besov spaces ${\cal B}^{\ensuremath α}_{p,q}$ are established. Under mild assumptions, we prove that $$\sup_{f\in B^{\ensuremath α}_{p,q}\cap \ensuremath \mathbb {L}_{\infty}} \ensuremath \mathbb {E}(\ensuremath | | \tilde{f}_{n,γ}-f| |_2^2)\leq C(\frac{\log n}{n})^{\frac{\ensuremath α}{\ensuremath α+{1/2}+({1/2}-\frac{1}{p})_+}}$$ and the lower bound of the minimax risk for ${\cal B}^{\ensuremath α}_{p,q}\cap \ensuremath \mathbb {L}_{\infty}$ coincides with the previous upper bound up to the logarithmic term. This new result has two consequences. First, it establishes that the minimax rate of Besov spaces ${\cal B}^{\ensuremath α}_{p,q}$ with $p\leq 2$ when non compactly supported functions are considered is the same as for compactly supported functions up to a logarithmic term. When $p>2$, the rate exponent, which depends on $p$, deteriorates when $p$ increases, which means that the support plays a harmful role in this case. Furthermore, $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$ is adaptive minimax up to a logarithmic term.

math.ST↗

Adaptive thresholding estimation of a Poisson intensity with infinite support

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the intensity of a Poisson process $N$ by using thresholding rules. In this paper, the intensity, defined as the derivative of the mean measure of $N$ with respect to $ndx$ where $n$ is a fixed parameter, is assumed to be non-compactly supported. The estimator $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$ based on random thresholds is proved to achieve the same performance as the oracle estimator up to a logarithmic term. Oracle inequalities allow to derive the maxiset of $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$. Then, minimax properties of $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$ are established. We first prove that the rate of this estimator on Besov spaces ${\cal B}^\al_{p,q}$ when $p\leq 2$ is $(\ln(n)/n)^{\al/(1+2\al)}$. This result has two consequences. First, it establishes that the minimax rate of Besov spaces ${\cal B}^\al_{p,q}$ with $p\leq 2$ when non compactly supported functions are considered is the same as for compactly supported functions up to a logarithmic term. This result is new. Furthermore, $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$ is adaptive minimax up to a logarithmic term. When $p>2$, the situation changes dramatically and the rate of $\tilde{f}_{n,γ}$ on Besov spaces ${\cal B}^\al_{p,q}$ is worse than $(\ln(n)/n)^{\al/(1+2\al)}$. Finally, the random threshold depends on a parameter $γ$ that has to be suitably chosen in practice. Some theoretical results provide upper and lower bounds of $γ$ to obtain satisfying oracle inequalities. Simulations reinforce these results.

math.ST↗