Analyzing spike trains with circular statistics
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In neuroscience, specifically electrophysiology, it is common to replace a measured sequence of action potentials or spike trains with delta functions prior to analysis. We apply a method called circular statistics to a time series of delta functions and show that the method is equivalent to the power spectrum. This technique allows us to easily visualize the idea of the power spectrum of spike trains and easily reveals oscillatory and stochastic behavior. We provide several illustrations of the method and an example suitable for students, and suggest that the method might be useful for courses in introductory biophysics and neuroscience. © 2009 American Association of Physics Teachers.
Publication Date
4-24-2009
Publication Title
American Journal of Physics
ISSN
00029505
Volume
77
Issue
5
First Page
424
Last Page
429
DOI
10.1119/1.3090827
Recommended Citation
Takeshita, Daisuke; Gale, John T.; Montgomery, Erwin B.; Bahar, Sonya; and Moss, Frank, "Analyzing spike trains with circular statistics" (2009). Physics Faculty Works. 63.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3090827
Available at:
https://irl.umsl.edu/physics-faculty/63