Published November 15, 2012 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Functional Connectivity and Tuning Curves in Populations of Simultaneously Recorded Neurons

  • 1. University of California, Berkeley
  • 2. Northwestern University
  • 3. Baylor College of Medicine
  • 4. Oregon Health and Science University
  • 5. University of Maryland
  • 6. Rutgers University
  • 7. Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • 8. University of Chicago

Description

How interactions between neurons relate to tuned neural responses is a longstanding question in systems neuroscience. Here we use statistical modeling and simultaneous multi-electrode recordings to explore the relationship between these interactions and tuning curves in six different brain areas. We find that, in most cases, functional interactions between neurons provide an explanation of spiking that complements and, in some cases, surpasses the influence of canonical tuning curves. Modeling functional interactions improves both encoding and decoding accuracy by accounting for noise correlations and features of the external world that tuning curves fail to capture. In cortex, modeling coupling alone allows spikes to be predicted more accurately than tuning curve models based on external variables. These results suggest that statistical models of functional interactions between even relatively small numbers of neurons may provide a useful framework for examining neural coding.

Files

journal.pcbi.1002775.pdf

Files (2.0 MB)

Name Size Download all
Article
md5:4310d4f76f3684024a0d9b842ff7eb68
2.0 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002775
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:8558

Funding

Chicago Community Trust and National Institutes of Health
1R01NS063399
Chicago Community Trust and National Institutes of Health
2P01NS044393
National Institutes of Health
R01NS048845
National Institutes of Health
R01NS053603
NCRR-NIH
Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program
NIH-NINDS
R01NS45853
National Institutes of Health
R01DC005779
National Institutes of Health
K99DC010439
National Institutes of Health
5R21NS066260
National Institutes of Health
EY016774
DFG
fellowship

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Biological Sciences Division
Department(s)
Organismal Biology and Anatomy