We construct a model that predicts the statistical properties of spike trains generated by a sensory neuron. The model describes the combined effects of the neuron's intrinsic properties, the noise in the surrounding, and the external driving stimulus. We show that the spike trains exhibit universal statistical behavior over short times, modulated by a strongly stimulus-dependent behavior over long times. These predictions are confirmed in experiments on H1, a motion-sensitive neuron in the fly visual system.
Background: In neurophysiological data, latency refers to a global shift of spikes from one spike train to the next, either caused by response onset fluctuations or by finite propagation speed. Such systematic shifts in spike timing lead to a spurious decrease in synchrony which needs to be corrected. New Method: We propose a new algorithm of multivariate latency correction suitable for sparse data for which the relevant information is not primarily in the rate but in the timing of each individual spike. The algorithm is designed to correct systematic delays while maintaining all other kinds o…
This paper uses a simple optogenetic model to compare the timing distortion between a randomly-generated target spike sequence and an externally-stimulated neuron spike sequence. Optogenetics is an emerging field of neuroscience where neurons are genetically modified to express light-sensitive receptors that enable external control over when the neurons fire. Given the prominence of neuronal signaling within the brain and throughout the body, optogenetics has significant potential to improve the understanding of the nervous system and to develop treatments for neurological diseases. This paper…
Spiking activity in cortical networks is nonlinear in nature. The linear-nonlinear cascade model, some versions of which are also known as point-process generalized linear model, can efficiently capture the nonlinear dynamics exhibited by such networks. Of particular interest in such models are theoretical predictions of spike train statistics. However, due to the moment-closure problem, approximations are inevitable. We suggest here a series expansion that explains how higher-order moments couple to lower-order ones. Our approach makes predictions in terms of certain integrals, the so-called …