Ambiguity and nonidentifiability in the statistical analysis of neural codes.

ABSTRACT: Many experimental studies of neural coding rely on a statistical interpretation of the theoretical notion of the rate at which a neuron fires spikes. For example, neuroscientists often ask, "Does a population of neurons exhibit more synchronous spiking than one would expect from the covariability of their instantaneous firing rates?" For another example, "How much of a neuron's observed spiking variability is caused by the variability of its instantaneous firing rate, and how much is caused by spike timing variability?" However, a neuron's theoretical firing rate is not necessarily well-defined. Consequently, neuroscientific questions involving the theoretical firing rate do not have a meaning in isolation but can only be interpreted in light of additional statistical modeling choices. Ign

SUBMITTER: Amarasingham A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4443375 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature