title: Spectral representation--analyzing single-unit activity in extracellularly recorded neuronal data without spike sorting.
abstract: One step in the conventional analysis of extracellularly recorded neuronal data is spike sorting, which separates electrical signal into action potentials from different neurons. Because spike sorting involves human judgment, it can be subjective and time intensive, particularly for large sets of neurons. Here we propose a simple, automated way to construct alternative representations of neuronal activity, called spectral representation (SR). In this approach, neuronal spikes are mapped to a discrete space of spike waveform features and time. Spectral representation enables us to find single-unit stimulus-related changes in neuronal activity without spike sorting. We tested the ability of this method to predict stimuli using both simulated data and experimental data from an auditory mapping study in anesthetized marmoset monkeys. We find that our approach produces more accurate classification of stimuli than spike-sorted data for both simulated and experimental conditions. Furthermore, this method lends itself to automated analysis of extracellularly recorded neuronal ensembles. Additionally, we suggest ways in which these representations can be readily extended to assist in spike sorting and the evaluation of single-neuron peri-stimulus time histograms.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 197 University Avenue, Newark, NJ 07102, USA. Luczak@cs.yale.edu
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luczak
authors.forename: Nandakumar S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Narayanan
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002144:Callithrix; D003198:Computer Simulation; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology; D025341:Principal Component Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013997:Time Factors