提出新方法量化空间图中节点间的方向性影响,适合生物图谱分析。
CDS: Counterfactual Directionality Score for Structured Interventions in Spatial Graphs

- 基于邻域影响模型与受限干预,构建可解释的方向性评分
- 在合成数据上准确恢复已知方向关系,且对干扰信号鲁棒
- 适用于空间转录组等生物图谱研究,揭示潜在细胞互作机制
在基于图的建模中,量化节点群体间方向性影响是一个基础问题,尤其在空间生物系统中,细胞间相互作用决定功能结果。现有基于注意力、归因或相关性的方法仅捕捉关联,缺乏在受控扰动下评估方向效应的理论框架。本文提出一种用于图模型中结构化反事实干预的框架,以估计节点类型间的方向性影响。通过训练邻居影响模型(NIM)从局部邻域预测节点状态,并施加约束干预以改变邻域组成,同时保持关键空间和结构特性。定义反事实方向性评分(CDS),衡量目标扰动引起的预测状态变化,并将CDS解释为局部干预敏感性的有限差分度量。为获得有效不确定性估计,引入核心级自助法,考虑空间样本内的依赖关系。在具有已知方向结构的合成空间图上实验表明,CDS能准确恢复方向影响,在零假设条件下校准良好,对混杂信号具有鲁棒性;初步在空间转录组数据上的结果揭示了跨组织核心的生物学合理且一致的相互作用。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Quantifying directional influence between node populations is a fundamental problem in graph-based modeling, particularly in spatial biological systems where cell-cell interactions shape functional outcomes. Existing approaches based on attention, attribution, or correlation capture associations but do not provide a principled framework for evaluating directional effects under controlled perturbations. We introduce a framework for structured counterfactual interventions in graph-based models to estimate directional influence between node types. Our approach trains a Neighbor Influence Model (NIM) to predict node states from local neighborhoods and applies constrained interventions that modify neighborhood composition while preserving key spatial and structural properties. We define the Counterfactual Directionality Score (CDS), which measures the change in predicted node state induced by targeted perturbations, and provide a theoretical interpretation of CDS as a finite-difference measure of local intervention sensitivity. To obtain valid uncertainty estimates, we introduce a core-level bootstrap procedure that accounts for dependencies within spatial samples. Experiments on synthetic spatial graphs with known directional structure show that CDS recovers directional influence, remains well calibrated under null conditions, and is robust to confounding signals, while preliminary results on spatial transcriptomics data reveal biologically plausible and consistent interactions across tissue cores.
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