Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models

Understanding how ensembles of neurons represent and transmit information in the patterns of their joint spiking activity is a fundamental question in computational neuroscience. At present, analyses of spiking activity from neuronal ensembles are limited because multivariate point process (MPP) mod...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ba, Demba, Temereanca, Simona, Brown, Emery N.
Other Authors: Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Frontiers Research Foundation 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102351
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-7819
_version_ 1826213820664643584
author Ba, Demba
Temereanca, Simona
Brown, Emery N.
author2 Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
author_facet Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Ba, Demba
Temereanca, Simona
Brown, Emery N.
author_sort Ba, Demba
collection MIT
description Understanding how ensembles of neurons represent and transmit information in the patterns of their joint spiking activity is a fundamental question in computational neuroscience. At present, analyses of spiking activity from neuronal ensembles are limited because multivariate point process (MPP) models cannot represent simultaneous occurrences of spike events at an arbitrarily small time resolution. Solo recently reported a simultaneous-event multivariate point process (SEMPP) model to correct this key limitation. In this paper, we show how Solo's discrete-time formulation of the SEMPP model can be efficiently fit to ensemble neural spiking activity using a multinomial generalized linear model (mGLM). Unlike existing approximate procedures for fitting the discrete-time SEMPP model, the mGLM is an exact algorithm. The MPP time-rescaling theorem can be used to assess model goodness-of-fit. We also derive a new marked point-process (MkPP) representation of the SEMPP model that leads to new thinning and time-rescaling algorithms for simulating an SEMPP stochastic process. These algorithms are much simpler than multivariate extensions of algorithms for simulating a univariate point process, and could not be arrived at without the MkPP representation. We illustrate the versatility of the SEMPP model by analyzing neural spiking activity from pairs of simultaneously-recorded rat thalamic neurons stimulated by periodic whisker deflections, and by simulating SEMPP data. In the data analysis example, the SEMPP model demonstrates that whisker motion significantly modulates simultaneous spiking activity at the 1 ms time scale and that the stimulus effect is more than one order of magnitude greater for simultaneous activity compared with non-simultaneous activity. Together, the mGLM, the MPP time-rescaling theorem and the MkPP representation of the SEMPP model offer a theoretically sound, practical tool for measuring joint spiking propensity in a neuronal ensemble.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T15:55:02Z
format Article
id mit-1721.1/102351
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language en_US
last_indexed 2024-09-23T15:55:02Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Frontiers Research Foundation
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1023512022-09-29T17:03:41Z Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models Ba, Demba Temereanca, Simona Brown, Emery N. Institute for Medical Engineering and Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Ba, Demba Brown, Emery N. Understanding how ensembles of neurons represent and transmit information in the patterns of their joint spiking activity is a fundamental question in computational neuroscience. At present, analyses of spiking activity from neuronal ensembles are limited because multivariate point process (MPP) models cannot represent simultaneous occurrences of spike events at an arbitrarily small time resolution. Solo recently reported a simultaneous-event multivariate point process (SEMPP) model to correct this key limitation. In this paper, we show how Solo's discrete-time formulation of the SEMPP model can be efficiently fit to ensemble neural spiking activity using a multinomial generalized linear model (mGLM). Unlike existing approximate procedures for fitting the discrete-time SEMPP model, the mGLM is an exact algorithm. The MPP time-rescaling theorem can be used to assess model goodness-of-fit. We also derive a new marked point-process (MkPP) representation of the SEMPP model that leads to new thinning and time-rescaling algorithms for simulating an SEMPP stochastic process. These algorithms are much simpler than multivariate extensions of algorithms for simulating a univariate point process, and could not be arrived at without the MkPP representation. We illustrate the versatility of the SEMPP model by analyzing neural spiking activity from pairs of simultaneously-recorded rat thalamic neurons stimulated by periodic whisker deflections, and by simulating SEMPP data. In the data analysis example, the SEMPP model demonstrates that whisker motion significantly modulates simultaneous spiking activity at the 1 ms time scale and that the stimulus effect is more than one order of magnitude greater for simultaneous activity compared with non-simultaneous activity. Together, the mGLM, the MPP time-rescaling theorem and the MkPP representation of the SEMPP model offer a theoretically sound, practical tool for measuring joint spiking propensity in a neuronal ensemble. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 0836720) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant DA-015644) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant DP10D003646) 2016-05-02T15:46:57Z 2016-05-02T15:46:57Z 2014-02 2013-08 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1662-5188 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102351 Ba, Demba, Simona Temereanca, and Emery N. Brown. “Algorithms for the Analysis of Ensemble Neural Spiking Activity Using Simultaneous-Event Multivariate Point-Process Models.” Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience 8 (2014). https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-7819 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2014.00006 Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ application/pdf Frontiers Research Foundation Frontiers
spellingShingle Ba, Demba
Temereanca, Simona
Brown, Emery N.
Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models
title Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models
title_full Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models
title_fullStr Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models
title_full_unstemmed Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models
title_short Algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous-event multivariate point-process models
title_sort algorithms for the analysis of ensemble neural spiking activity using simultaneous event multivariate point process models
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102351
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-7819
work_keys_str_mv AT bademba algorithmsfortheanalysisofensembleneuralspikingactivityusingsimultaneouseventmultivariatepointprocessmodels
AT temereancasimona algorithmsfortheanalysisofensembleneuralspikingactivityusingsimultaneouseventmultivariatepointprocessmodels
AT brownemeryn algorithmsfortheanalysisofensembleneuralspikingactivityusingsimultaneouseventmultivariatepointprocessmodels