title: Statistical identification of stimulus-activated network nodes in multi-neuron voltage-sensitive dye optical recordings.
abstract: Voltage-Sensitive Dye (VSD) imaging is an optical imaging method that allows measuring the graded voltage changes of multiple neurons simultaneously. In neuroscience, this method is used to reveal networks of neurons involved in certain tasks. However, the recorded relative dye fluorescence changes are usually low and signals are superimposed by noise and artifacts. Therefore, establishing a reliable method to identify which cells are activated by specific stimulus conditions is the first step to identify functional networks. In this paper, we present a statistical method to identify stimulus-activated network nodes as cells, whose activities during sensory network stimulation differ significantly from the un-stimulated control condition. This method is demonstrated based on voltage-sensitive dye recordings from up to 100 neurons in a ganglion of the medicinal leech responding to tactile skin stimulation. Without relying on any prior physiological knowledge, the network nodes identified by our statistical analysis were found to match well with published cell types involved in tactile stimulus processing and to be consistent across stimulus conditions and preparations.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fathiazar
authors.forename: Jorn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Anemuller
authors.forename: Jutta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kretzberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005724:Ganglia / Q000502:physiology; D007865:Leeches; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009068:Movement; D009415:Nerve Net; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014110:Touch; D056969:Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes