Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time
Computational analyses have revealed that precisely timed spikes emitted by somatosensory cortical neuronal populations encode basic stimulus features in the rat’s whisker sensory system. Efficient spike time based decoding schemes both for the spatial location of a stimulus and for the ki...
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doaj-a952f767812f4112a37af23ed77a4ede2020-11-24T22:39:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience1663-35632010-06-01210.3389/fnsyn.2010.000171545Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus timeStefano Panzeri0Mathew E Diamond1Mathew E Diamond2Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)Cognitive Neuroscience Sector, SISSAItalian Institute of Technology - SISSA UnitComputational analyses have revealed that precisely timed spikes emitted by somatosensory cortical neuronal populations encode basic stimulus features in the rat’s whisker sensory system. Efficient spike time based decoding schemes both for the spatial location of a stimulus and for the kinetic features of complex whisker movements have been defined. To date, these decoding schemes have been based upon spike times referenced to an external temporal frame – the time of the stimulus itself. Such schemes are limited by the requirement of precise knowledge of the stimulus time signal, and it is not clear whether stimulus times are known to rats making sensory judgments. Here, we first review studies of the information obtained from spike timing referenced to the stimulus time. Then we explore new methods for extracting spike train information independently of any external temporal reference frame. These proposed methods are based on the detection of stimulus-dependent differences in the firing time within a neuronal population. We apply them to a data set using single-whisker stimulation in anesthetized rats and find that stimulus site can be decoded based on the millisecond-range relative differences in spike times even without knowledge of stimulus time. If spike counts alone are measured over tens or hundreds of milliseconds rather than milliseconds, such decoders are much less effective. These results suggest that decoding schemes based on millisecond-precise spike times are likely to subserve robust and information-rich transmission of information in the somatosensory system.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsyn.2010.00017/fullInformation TheoryDecodingpopulation codingNeural codingSomatosensationspike patterns |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Stefano Panzeri Mathew E Diamond Mathew E Diamond |
spellingShingle |
Stefano Panzeri Mathew E Diamond Mathew E Diamond Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience Information Theory Decoding population coding Neural coding Somatosensation spike patterns |
author_facet |
Stefano Panzeri Mathew E Diamond Mathew E Diamond |
author_sort |
Stefano Panzeri |
title |
Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time |
title_short |
Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time |
title_full |
Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time |
title_fullStr |
Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time |
title_full_unstemmed |
Information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time |
title_sort |
information carried by population spike times in the whisker sensory cortex can be decoded without knowledge of stimulus time |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience |
issn |
1663-3563 |
publishDate |
2010-06-01 |
description |
Computational analyses have revealed that precisely timed spikes emitted by somatosensory cortical neuronal populations encode basic stimulus features in the rat’s whisker sensory system. Efficient spike time based decoding schemes both for the spatial location of a stimulus and for the kinetic features of complex whisker movements have been defined. To date, these decoding schemes have been based upon spike times referenced to an external temporal frame – the time of the stimulus itself. Such schemes are limited by the requirement of precise knowledge of the stimulus time signal, and it is not clear whether stimulus times are known to rats making sensory judgments. Here, we first review studies of the information obtained from spike timing referenced to the stimulus time. Then we explore new methods for extracting spike train information independently of any external temporal reference frame. These proposed methods are based on the detection of stimulus-dependent differences in the firing time within a neuronal population. We apply them to a data set using single-whisker stimulation in anesthetized rats and find that stimulus site can be decoded based on the millisecond-range relative differences in spike times even without knowledge of stimulus time. If spike counts alone are measured over tens or hundreds of milliseconds rather than milliseconds, such decoders are much less effective. These results suggest that decoding schemes based on millisecond-precise spike times are likely to subserve robust and information-rich transmission of information in the somatosensory system. |
topic |
Information Theory Decoding population coding Neural coding Somatosensation spike patterns |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsyn.2010.00017/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
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