diff --git a/projects/project_serialcorrelation/serialcorrelation.tex b/projects/project_serialcorrelation/serialcorrelation.tex index 98dc07e..3950c7a 100644 --- a/projects/project_serialcorrelation/serialcorrelation.tex +++ b/projects/project_serialcorrelation/serialcorrelation.tex @@ -9,21 +9,28 @@ \input{../instructions.tex} - -%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Questions %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% +The gymnotiform weakly electric fish \textit{Apteronotus + leptorhynchus} has an active electrosensory system. An electric +organ generates an electric field surrounding the +fish. Electroreceptive organs distributed over the whole body of the +fish sense minute perturbations of the electric field caused by +objects close to the fish. P-unit electroreceptor afferents send +information from the electroreceptive organs to the brain. They are +spontaneously active when the fish is not electrically stimulated, +that is when the electroreceptors are only stimulated by the fish's +own unperturbed electric field. + +In this project we want to analyze how the baseline firing rates and +the serial correlations of the interspike intervals vary between +different P-units. + +In the file \texttt{baselinespikes.mat} you find two variables: +\texttt{cells} is a cell-array with the names of the recorded cells +and \texttt{spikes} is a cell array containing the spike times in +seconds of recorded spontaneous activity for each of these cells. \begin{questions} - \question P-unit electroreceptor afferents of the gymnotiform weakly - electric fish \textit{Apteronotus leptorhynchus} are spontaneously - active when the fish is not electrically stimulated. - - How do the firing rates and the serial correlations of the - interspike intervals vary between different cells? - - In the file \texttt{baselinespikes.mat} you find two variables: - \texttt{cells} is a cell-array with the names of the recorded cells - and \texttt{spikes} is a cell array containing the spike times in - seconds of recorded spontaneous activity for each of these cells. + \question Baseline firing rates \begin{parts} \part Load the data! How many cells are contained in the file? @@ -38,12 +45,21 @@ \part Compute the firing rate of each cell, i.e. number of spikes per time. Illustrate the results by means of a histogram and/or box whisker plot. + \end{parts} - \part Compute and plot the serial correlations between interspike intervals up to lag 10. + \question Serial correlations + \begin{parts} + \part Compute and plot the serial correlations between interspike + intervals up to lag 10. What do you observe? In what way are the interspike-interval correlations similar betwen the cells? How do they differ? + \part Illustrate relevant serial correlations with a return + map. How is the return map related to what you see in the + corresponding raster plot? How is it related to the corresponding + serial correlation? + \part Implement a permutation test for computing the significance at an appropriate significance level of the serial correlations. Keep in mind that you test the correlations at 10