The detection of directional couplings between dynamics based on measured spike trains is a crucial problem in the understanding of many different systems. In particular, in neuroscience it is important to assess the connectivity between neurons. One of the approaches that can estimate directional coupling from the analysis of point processes is the nonlinear interdependence measure L. Although...

In the population coding framework, we consider how the response distributions affect output distribution. A general theory for the output of neuronal population code is presented when the spike train is a renewal process. Under a given condition on the response distribution, the most probable value of the output distribution is the center of input-preferred values, whereas in the other cases t...

We study noise-induced resonance effects in the leaky integrate-and-fire neuron model with absolute refractory period, driven by a Gaussian white noise. It is demonstrated that a finite noise level may either maximize or minimize the regularity of the spike train. We also partition the parameter space into regimes where either or both of these effects occur. It is shown that the coherence minim...

Estimating the degree of synchrony or reliability between two or more spike trains is a frequent task in both experimental and computational neuroscience. In recent years, many different methods have been proposed that typically compare the timing of spikes on a certain time scale to be optimized by the analyst. Here, we propose the ISI-distance, a simple complementary approach that extracts in...

Recent progress in the technology for single unit recordings has given the neuroscientific community the opportunity to record the spiking activity of large neuronal populations. At the same pace, statistical and mathematical tools were developed to deal with high-dimensional datasets typical of such recordings. A major line of research investigates the functional role of subsets of neurons wit...

This study investigated the firing patterns of striatal and cortical neurons in rats in a temporal generalization task. Striatal and cortical ensembles were recorded in rats trained to lever press at 2 possible criterion durations (10 s or 40 s from tone onset). Twenty-two percent of striatal and 15% of cortical cells had temporally specific modulations in their firing rate, firing at a signifi...

Rodents use their whiskers to detect a variety of tactile features of their environment. They do so by using two functionally distinct whisker systems: the macrovibrissae and microvibrissae. To determine the functional role of unexplored microvibrissae, we recorded from the cortical area representing the frontobuccal pad in anesthetized rats while presenting moving textures of varying coarsenes...