From 90df1e45dd107a6ca89215355465806a7b2b6780 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jan Benda <jan.benda@uni-tuebingen.de>
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:39:46 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] [project_ficurve] improved task

---
 projects/project_ficurves/ficurves.tex | 36 ++++++++++++--------------
 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/projects/project_ficurves/ficurves.tex b/projects/project_ficurves/ficurves.tex
index 8af5861..53648af 100644
--- a/projects/project_ficurves/ficurves.tex
+++ b/projects/project_ficurves/ficurves.tex
@@ -27,17 +27,17 @@ to the stimulus onset.
   \question Estimate the $f$-$I$-curve for the onset and the steady
   state response.
   \begin{parts}
-    \part Estimate for each stimulus intensity the average response
-    (PSTH) and plot it. You will see that there are three parts: (i)
-    The first 200\,ms is the baseline (no stimulus) activity. (ii)
-    During the next 1000\,ms the stimulus was switched on. (iii) After
-    stimulus offset the neuronal activity was recorded for further
-    825\,ms.
+    \part Estimate for each stimulus intensity the time course of the
+    trial-averaged response (PSTH) and plot it. You will see that
+    there are three parts: (i) The first 200\,ms is the baseline (no
+    stimulus) activity. (ii) During the next 1000\,ms the stimulus was
+    switched on. (iii) After stimulus offset the neuronal activity was
+    recorded for further 825\,ms.
 
-    \part Extract the neuron's activity in 50\,ms time windows before
-    stimulus onset (baseline activity), immediately after stimulus
-    onset (onset response), and 50\,ms before stimulus offset (steady
-    state response).
+    \part Extract the neuron's activity (mean over trials and standard
+    deviation) in 50\,ms time windows before stimulus onset (baseline
+    activity), immediately after stimulus onset (onset response), and
+    50\,ms before stimulus offset (steady state response).
 
     Plot the resulting $f$-$I$ curves by plotting the three computed
     firing rates against the corresponding stimulus intensities
@@ -45,8 +45,9 @@ to the stimulus onset.
 
   \end{parts}
 
-  \question Fit a Boltzmann function to each of the $$-$I$-curves. The
-  Boltzmann function is a sigmoidal function and is defined as
+  \question Fit a Boltzmann function to the onset and steady-state
+  $f$-$I$-curves. The Boltzmann function is a sigmoidal function and
+  is defined as
   \begin{equation}
     f(x) = \frac{\alpha-\beta}{1+e^{-k(x-x_0)}}+\beta \; .
   \end{equation}
@@ -64,13 +65,10 @@ to the stimulus onset.
 
     \part Do the fits and show the resulting Boltzmann functions
     together with the corresponding data.
-    
-    \part Illustrate how the fit to the $f$-$I$ curves changes during
-    the fitting process. You can plot the parameters as a function of
-    fit iterations.  Which parameter stay the same, which ones change
-    with time?
-    
-    Support your conclusion with appropriate statistical tests.
+
+    \part Use a statistical test to evaluate which of the onset and
+    steady-state responses differ significantly from the baseline
+    activity.
     
     \part Discuss you results with respect to encoding of different
     stimulus intensities.