Nonparametric regression has proven to be successful in extracting features from limited data in neurological applications. However, due to data scarcity, most brain-computer interfaces still rely on linear classifiers. This work leverages the robustness of the James-Stein theorem in nonparametric regression to harness the potentials of deep learning and foster its successful application in neural engineering with small data sets. We propose a novel method that combines James-Stein regression for feature extraction, and deep neural network for decoding; we refer to the architecture as deep James-Stein neural network (DJSNN). We apply the DJSNN to decode eye movement goals in a memory-guided visual saccades to one of eight target locations. The results demonstrate that the DJSNN outperforms existing methods by a substantial margin, especially at deep cortical sites.

Neural-Matrix style, high-density electrode arrays for brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) and neuroscientific research require the use of multiplexing: Each recording channel can be routed to one of several electrode sites on the array. This capability allows the user to flexibly distribute recording channels to the locations where the most desirable neural signals can be resolved. For example, in the Neuropixel probe, 960 electrodes can be addressed by 384 recording channels. However, currently no adaptive methods exist to use recorded neural data to optimize/customize the electrode selections per recording context. Here, we present an algorithm called classification-based selection (CBS) that optimizes the joint electrode selections for all recording channels so as to maximize isolation quality of detected neurons. We show, in experiments using Neuropixels in non-human primates, that this algorithm yields a similar number of isolated neurons as would be obtained if all electrodes were recorded simultaneously. Neuron counts were 41-85% improved over previously published electrode selection strategies. The neurons isolated from electrodes selected by CBS were a 73% match, by spike timing, to the complete set of recordable neurons around the probe. The electrodes selected by CBS exhibited higher average per-recording-channel signal-to-noise ratio. CBS, and selection optimization in general, could play an important role in development of neurotechnologies for BMI, as signal bandwidth becomes an increasingly limiting factor. Code and experimental data have been made available.

A macaque monkey is trained to perform two different kinds of tasks, memory aided and visually aided. In each task, the monkey saccades to eight possible target locations. A classifier is proposed for direction decoding and task decoding based on local field potentials (LFP) collected from the prefrontal cortex. The LFP time-series data is modeled in a nonparametric regression framework, as a function corrupted by Gaussian noise. It is shown that if the function belongs to Besov bodies, then the proposed wavelet shrinkage and thresholding based classifier is robust and consistent. The classifier is then applied to the LFP data to achieve high decoding performance. The proposed classifier is also quite general and can be applied for the classification of other types of time-series data as well, not necessarily brain data.

In studies of the nervous system, the choice of metric for the neural responses is a pivotal assumption. For instance, a well-suited distance metric enables us to gauge the similarity of neural responses to various stimuli and assess the variability of responses to a repeated stimulus-exploratory steps in understanding how the stimuli are encoded neurally. Here we introduce an approach where the metric is tuned for a particular neural decoding task. Neural spike train metrics have been used to quantify the information content carried by the timing of action potentials. While a number of metrics for individual neurons exist, a method to optimally combine single-neuron metrics into multineuron, or population-based, metrics is lacking. We pose the problem of optimizing multineuron metrics and other metrics using centered alignment, a kernel-based dependence measure. The approach is demonstrated on invasively recorded neural data consisting of both spike trains and local field potentials. The experimental paradigm consists of decoding the location of tactile stimulation on the forepaws of anesthetized rats. We show that the optimized metrics highlight the distinguishing dimensions of the neural response, significantly increase the decoding accuracy, and improve nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods for exploratory neural analysis.

Assessing dependence between two sets of spike trains or between a set of input stimuli and the corresponding generated spike trains is crucial in many neuroscientific applications, such as in analyzing functional connectivity among neural assemblies, and in neural coding. Dependence between two random variables is traditionally assessed in terms of mutual information. However, although well explored in the context of real or vector valued random variables, estimating mutual information still remains a challenging issue when the random variables exist in more exotic spaces such as the space of spike trains. In the statistical literature, on the other hand, the concept of dependence between two random variables has been presented in many other ways, e.g. using copula, or using measures of association such as Spearman's ρ, and Kendall's τ. Although these methods are usually applied on the real line, their simplicity, both in terms of understanding and estimating, make them worth investigating in the context of spike train dependence. In this paper, we generalize the concept of association to any abstract metric spaces. This new approach is an attractive alternative to mutual information, since it can be easily estimated from realizations without binning or clustering. It also provides an intuitive understanding of what dependence implies in the context of realizations. We show that this new methodology effectively captures dependence between sets of stimuli and spike trains. Moreover, the estimator has desirable small sample characteristic, and it often outperforms an existing similar metric based approach.

Hypothesis testing on point processes has several applications such as model fitting, plasticity detection, and non-stationarity detection. Standard tools for hypothesis testing include tests on mean firing rate and time varying rate function. However, these statistics do not fully describe a point process and thus the tests can be misleading. In this paper, we introduce a family of non-parametric divergence measures for hypothesis testing. We extend the traditional Kolmogorov--Smirnov and Cramer--von-Mises tests for point process via stratification. The proposed divergence measures compare the underlying probability structure and, thus, is zero if and only if the point processes are the same. This leads to a more robust test of hypothesis. We prove consistency and show that these measures can be efficiently estimated from data. We demonstrate an application of using the proposed divergence as a cost function to find optimally matched spike trains.