Autori: Jurjut OF, Nikolic D, Pipa G, Singer W, Metzler D, Muresan RC

Editorial: Journal of Neurophysiology, 102, p.3766-3778, 2009.

Rezumat:

Multi-electrode recordings of neuronal activity provide an overwhelming amount of data that is
often difficult to analyze and interpret. Although various methods exist for treating multi-electrode
datasets quantitatively there is a particularly prominent lack of techniques that enable a quick visual
exploration of such datasets. Here, by using Kohonen self-organizing maps, we propose a simple
technique that allows for the representation of multiple spike-trains through a sequence of color
coded population activity vectors. When multiple color sequences are grouped according to a
certain criterion, e.g. by stimulation condition or recording time, one can inspect an entire dataset
visually and extract quickly information about the identity, stimulus-locking and temporal
distribution of multi-neuron activity patterns. Color sequences can be computed on various
timescales revealing different aspects of the temporal dynamics and can emphasize high-order
correlation patterns that are not detectable with pairwise techniques. Furthermore, this technique is
useful for determining the stability of neuronal responses during a recording session. Due to its
simplicity and reliance on perceptual grouping, the method is useful for both quick online
visualization of incoming data and for more detailed post-hoc analyses.

Cuvinte cheie: Kohonen map, Color sequence, Stimulus-locking, Stationarity

URL: http://raulmuresan.ro/Papers/Jurjut%20et%20al%20JN%202009.pdf