Thus, a spike train can be described simply as a list of times, each indicating the time at which a given neuron emitted a spike. Of course, in reality, a spike actually has a certain brief lifetime, from its generation and propagation to ultimate decay, but this is not essential to most experimental settings. We focus first on describing spike trains from a single neuron, with a first step towards pairwise analysis at the end.įor most purposes, a spike can be considered as a unitary, punctate event that occurs at a specific time. This module introduces the most commonly used basic tools for describing spike trains. As a result, the recording and interpretation of spike data is a central tool in neuroscience. Thus, any adaptive behavior must ultimately result from the appropriate manipulation of spike patterns. At the most general level, sensory input to the brain can be thought of as changing the patterns of spikes in associated sensory nuclei and brain regions in turn, motor output is ultimately governed by patterns of spikes in motor areas.
Although there are exceptions, spikes are generally the only aspect of neural activity that is transmitted rapidly to postsynaptic targets. Spikes enable fast yet reliable electrical communication over more than the microscopic distances to which passive conduction is limited. Action potentials, or spikes, are the main unit of information processing in the brain.
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