Comparing neuronal spike trains with inhomogeneous Poisson distribution: evaluation procedure and experimental application in cases of cyclic activity

J Neurosci Methods. 2005 Nov 30;149(1):7-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.03.013. Epub 2005 Jun 20.

Abstract

A procedure is proposed to compare single-unit spiking activity elicited in repetitive cycles with an inhomogeneous Poisson process (IPP). Each spike sequence in a cycle is discretized and represented as a point process on a circle. The interspike interval probability density predicted for an IPP is computed on the basis of the experimental firing probability density; differences from the experimental interval distribution are assessed. This procedure was applied to spike trains which were repetitively induced by opening-closing movements of the distal article of a lobster leg. As expected, the density of short interspike intervals, less than 20-40 ms in length, was found to lie greatly below the level predicted for an IPP, reflecting the occurrence of the refractory period. Conversely, longer intervals, ranging from 20-40 to 100-120 ms, were markedly more abundant than expected; this provided evidence for a time window of increased tendency to fire again after a spike. Less consistently, a weak depression of spike generation was observed for longer intervals. A Monte Carlo procedure, implemented for comparison, produced quite similar results, but was slightly less precise and more demanding as concerns computation time.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology*
  • Algorithms*
  • Animals
  • Biological Clocks / physiology*
  • Data Interpretation, Statistical
  • Locomotion / physiology*
  • Models, Statistical
  • Nephropidae / physiology*
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Pattern Recognition, Automated / methods*
  • Poisson Distribution