Processing and Display of Correlations in Multineuron EV

We will develop a device for multineuron extracellular electrophysiology recording that willprovide experimentalists with a near real-time display of the correlations in firing within such large groupsof neurons. The device will be placed in the typical laboratory equipment chain after signal amplification,conditioning, and spike sorting. Using a combination of fast DSP (Digital Signal Processing) hardwareand carefully selected algorithms, it will calculate the correlation between all paris of input spike trains,and then present a frequently updated display of the cross correlation matrix in such a way that highlycorrelated sub-sets of neurons within the recorded group will be displayed prominently. The device willbe used to study changes in composition and correlation levels in these subsets as experimentalconditions are changed, as an experimental animal is trained, and to help guide the placement of therecording electrode.