A control algorithm for autonomous optimization of extracellular recordings

This paper develops a control algorithm that can autonomously position an electrode so as to find and then maintain an optimal extracellular recording position. The algorithm was developed and tested in a two-neuron computational model representative of the cells found in cerebral cortex. The algorithm is based on a stochastic optimization of a suitably defined signal quality metric and is shown capable of finding the optimal recording position along representative sampling directions, as well as maintaining the optimal signal quality in the face of modeled tissue movements. The application of the algorithm to acute neurophysiological recording experiments and its potential implications to chronic recording electrode arrays are discussed

Spike Clustering and Neuron Tracking over Successive Time Windows

This paper introduces a new methodology for tracking signals from individual neurons over time in multiunit extracellular recordings. The core of our strategy relies upon an extension of a traditional mixture model approach, with parameter optimization via expectation-maximimization (EM), to incorporate clustering results from the preceding time period in a Bayesian manner. EM initialization is also achieved by utilizing these prior clustering results. After clustering, we match the current and prior clusters to track persisting neurons. Applications of this spike sorting method to recordings from macaque parietal cortex show that it provides significantly more consistent clustering and tracking results

A Miniature Robot for Isolating and Tracking Neurons in Extracellular Cortical Recordings

This paper presents a miniature robot device and control algorithm that can autonomously position electrodes in cortical tissue for isolation and tracking of extracellular signals of individual neurons. Autonomous electrode positioning can significantly enhance the efficiency and quality of acute electrophysiolgical experiments aimed at basic understanding of the nervous system. Future miniaturized systems of this sort could also overcome some of the inherent difficulties in estabilishing long-lasting neural interfaces that are needed for practical realization of neural prostheses. The paper describes the robot's design and summarizes the overall structure of the control system that governs the electrode positioning process. We present a new sequential clustering algorithm that is key to improving our system's performance, and which may have other applications in robotics. Experimental results in macaque cortex demonstrate the validity of our approach

ANALYSIS OF NEURAL ACTIVITY OF THE HUMAN BASAL GANGLIA IN DYSTONIA: A REVIEW

Deep brain stimulation of the globus pallidus internus is an efective symptomatic treatment for pharmacoresistant dystonic syndromes, where pathophysiological mechanisms of action are not yet fully understood. The aim of this review article is to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art approaches for processing of microelectrode recordings in dystonia; in order to define biomarkers to identify patients who will benefit from the clinical deep brain stimulation. For this purpose, the essential elements of microelectrode processing are examined. Next, we investigate a real example of spike sorting processing in this field. Herein, we describe baseline elements of microrecordings processing including data collection, preprocessing phase, features computation, spike detection and sorting and finally, advanced spike train data analysis. This study will help readers acquire the necessary information about these elements and their associated techniques. Thus, this study is supposed to assist during identification and proposal of interesting clinical hypotheses in the field of single unit neuronal recordings in dystonia

Bayesian clustering and tracking of neuronal signals for autonomous neural interfaces

This paper introduces a new, unsupervised method for sorting and tracking the non-stationary spike signals of individual neurons in multi-unit extracellular recordings. While this method may be applied to a variety of problems that arise in the field of neural interfaces, its development is motivated by a new class of autonomous neural recording devices. The core of the proposed strategy relies upon an extension of a traditional expectation-maximization (EM) mixture model optimization to incorporate clustering results from the preceding recording interval in a Bayesian manner. Explicit filtering equations for the case of a Gaussian mixture are derived. Techniques using prior data to seed the EM iterations and to select the appropriate model class are also developed. As a natural byproduct of the sorting method, current and prior signal clusters can be matched over time in order to track persisting neurons. Applications of this signal classification method to recordings from macaque parietal cortex show that it provides significantly more consistent clustering and tracking results than traditional methods

Heuristic Spike Sorting Tuner (HSST), a framework to determine optimal parameter selection for a generic spike sorting algorithm

Extracellular microelectrodes frequently record neural activity from more than one neuron in the vicinity of the electrode. The process of labeling each recorded spike waveform with the identity of its source neuron is called spike sorting and is often approached from an abstracted statistical perspective. However, these approaches do not consider neurophysiological realities and may ignore important features that could improve the accuracy of these methods. Further, standard algorithms typically require selection of at least one free parameter, which can have significant effects on the quality of the output. We describe a Heuristic Spike Sorting Tuner (HSST) that determines the optimal choice of the free parameters for a given spike sorting algorithm based on the neurophysiological qualification of unit isolation and signal discrimination. A set of heuristic metrics are used to score the output of a spike sorting algorithm over a range of free parameters resulting in optimal sorting quality. We demonstrate that these metrics can be used to tune parameters in several spike sorting algorithms. The HSST algorithm shows robustness to variations in signal to noise ratio, number and relative size of units per channel. Moreover, the HSST algorithm is computationally efficient, operates unsupervised, and is parallelizable for batch processing

Communication channel analysis and real time compressed sensing for high density neural recording devices

Next generation neural recording and Brain- Machine Interface (BMI) devices call for high density or distributed systems with more than 1000 recording sites. As the recording site density grows, the device generates data on the scale of several hundred megabits per second (Mbps). Transmitting such large amounts of data induces significant power consumption and heat dissipation for the implanted electronics. Facing these constraints, efficient on-chip compression techniques become essential to the reduction of implanted systems power consumption. This paper analyzes the communication channel constraints for high density neural recording devices. This paper then quantifies the improvement on communication channel using efficient on-chip compression methods. Finally, This paper describes a Compressed Sensing (CS) based system that can reduce the data rate by > 10x times while using power on the order of a few hundred nW per recording channel