title: ROC-based estimates of neural-behavioral covariations using matched filters.
abstract: Correlations between responses in visual cortex and perceptual performance help draw a functional link between neural activity and visually guided behavior. These correlations are commonly derived with ROC-based neural-behavioral covariances (referred to as choice or detect probability) using boxcar analysis windows. Although boxcar windows capture the covariation between neural activity and behavior during steady-state stimulus presentations, they are not optimized to capture these correlations during short time-varying visual inputs. In this study, we implemented a matched-filter technique, combined with cross-validation, to improve the estimation of ROC-based neural-behavioral covariance under short and dynamic stimulus conditions. We show that this approach maximizes the area under the ROC curve and converges to the true neural-behavioral covariance using a Poisson spiking model. We also demonstrate that the matched filter, combined with cross-validation, reveals the dynamics of the neural-behavioral covariations of individual MT neurons during the detection of a brief motion stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0E9, Canada kamal.farah@mail.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Kamal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Farah
authors.forename: Jackson E T
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Erik P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D000882:Haplorhini; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012372:ROC Curve; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*