title: Wavelet filtering before spike detection preserves waveform shape and enhances single-unit discrimination.
abstract: The isolation of single units in extracellular recordings involves filtering. Removing lower frequencies allows a constant threshold to be applied in order to identify and extract action potential events. However, standard methods such as Butterworth bandpass filtering perform this frequency excision at a cost of grossly distorting waveform shapes. Here, we apply wavelet decomposition and reconstruction as a filter for electrophysiology data and demonstrate its ability to better preserve spike shape. For the majority of cells, this approach also improves spike signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and increases cluster discrimination. Additionally, the described technique is fast enough to be applied real-time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Wiltschko
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Gage
authors.forename: Joshua D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Berke
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted