A Simian Symphony (1/2): #Neural probe recording from CA1 #hippocampus. #Sonification and #visualization driven by Local Field Potential (LFP) and Current Source Density (CSD). Single-unit spikes each associated different piano keys. #b3d #neuroscience #dataviz #electrophysiology

I’m excited to share our latest #neuro #visualization. This project spanned many months, and grew in scope to beyond data #visualization to include #sonification. I hope you’ll sit back, put on your headphones, and enjoy a multi-sensory #neuroscience experience.

We explore a compressed pattern of brain activity seen in all mammals, that is thought to underlie the creation and consolidation of memories. The Sharp Wave Ripples (#SWRs) in the #hippocampus are the largest oscillation in the #brain, involving 10’s of thousands of #neurons.

A Simian Symphony (2/2): CA1 unit ensembles during Sharp Wave Ripples (#SWRs). Spike-sorted units are visualized / sonified across 20 ripples, represented by 3D cell morphology of the #hippocampal #neuron type. Morph between anatomical layer to UMAP space. #neurosience #b3d

This video is the result of a fascinating collaboration with @perpl_lab @SAbbaspoor @DiagBiochips @neuroscott. Also grateful to @NeuroMorphoOrg for the neuron models. What follows is a detailed description of what you're seeing in each scene:

We start by zooming into the #brain, where we see a @DiagBiochips DeepArray probe recording in the #hippocampus. We zoom in further to see the probe sites flickering with voltage changes around the neurons, the Local Field Potential (LFP).

Original data is sampled at 30kHz, so we slow down. The audio #sonification is being driven by the LFP, and the background Current Source Density shows the flow of electrical charges between the cell layers. A multisensory experience of 'ripples' at 1/200th of their real speed.

From the #LFP data, a statistical technique ‘spike sorting’ identified individual spiking neurons (‘units’). Groups of neurons fire together as a #cellassembly , a unit of #neural computation. We introduce the spike #sonification, where each unit is given a unique piano key.

We then look at a sequence of individual Sharp Wave Ripples and their neuronal ensembles. The cell types of each unit are inferred from their depth and their spiking statistics, and are represented by their 3D neuron morphology.

We’ve selected 20 ripples and measured by how many times each unit spikes during the ripple. Assemblies in the first 10 ripples are similar to each other, and those in the last 10 are similar to each other.

For this sequence, the piano notes are assigned to units that had spikes in both sets of ripples. Units who spiked only in the first group were assigned the timbre of an acoustic bass, while the units who spiked only in the second group were assigned that of a marimba.

It just needs Tony Levin and Bill Bruford.

@EdwinRobertoRa4 chécate esta sinfonía, doc!