# MADE-for-ASD: A Multi-Atlas Deep Ensemble Network for Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.07076 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.07076/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 51 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 9 Jul 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Disease Prediction using Graph Convolutional Networks: Application to Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.01738/) (2018)
- [Deriving reproducible biomarkers from multi-site resting-state data: An Autism-based example](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.06066/) (2016)
- [ASD-DiagNet: A hybrid learning approach for detection of Autism Spectrum Disorder using fMRI data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.07577/) (2019)
- [Deep Learning for Neuroimaging-based Diagnosis and Rehabilitation of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.01285/) (2020)
- [Bootstrapping Graph Convolutional Neural Networks for Autism Spectrum Disorder Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.07487/) (2017)
- [Ensemble learning with 3D convolutional neural networks for connectome-based prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.06219/) (2018)
- [Pretraining is All You Need: A Multi-Atlas Enhanced Transformer Framework for Autism Spectrum Disorder Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.01759/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Beyond Anatomy: Explainable ASD Classification from rs-fMRI via Functional Parcellation and Graph Attention Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.02518/) (2026)
- [SABER: A Semantic-Aligned Brain Network Analysis Framework via Multi-scale Hypergraphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.01901/) (2026)
- [A systematic review of machine learning techniques to address diagnosis and treatment of autism: challenges and opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.18188/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In response to the global need for efficient early diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), this paper bridges the gap between traditional, time-consuming diagnostic methods and potential automated solutions. We propose a multi-atlas deep ensemble network, MADE-for-ASD, that integrates multiple atlases of the brain's functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data through a weighted deep ensemble network. Our approach integrates demographic information into the prediction workflow, which enhances ASD diagnosis performance and offers a more holistic perspective on patient profiling. We experiment with the well-known publicly available ABIDE (Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange) I dataset, consisting of resting state fMRI data from 17 different laboratories around the globe. Our proposed system achieves 75.20% accuracy on the entire dataset and 96.40% on a specific subset - both surpassing reported ASD diagnosis accuracy in ABIDE I fMRI studies. Specifically, our model improves by 4.4 percentage points over prior works on the same amount of data. The model exhibits a sensitivity of 82.90% and a specificity of 69.70% on the entire dataset, and 91.00% and 99.50%, respectively, on the specific subset. We leverage the F-score to pinpoint the top 10 ROI in ASD diagnosis, such as precuneus and anterior cingulate/ventromedial. The proposed system can potentially pave the way for more cost-effective, efficient and scalable strategies in ASD diagnosis. Codes and evaluations are publicly available at https://github.com/hasan-rakibul/MADE-for-ASD.