Photon shot noise limits on optical detection of neuronal spikes and estimation of spike timing
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Optical approaches for tracking neural dynamics are of widespread interest, but a theoretical framework quantifying the physical limits of these techniques has been lacking. We formulate such a framework by using signal detection and estimation theory to obtain physical bounds on the detection of neural spikes and the estimation of their occurrence times set by photon statistics (shot noise). These bounds are succinctly expressed via a discriminability index that depends on the kinetics of the optical indicator and the relative fluxes of signal and background photons. This approach facilitates quantitative evaluations of different indicators, detector technologies, and data analyses. We compare various types of Ca-2+ indicators and show that background photons are a chief impediment to voltage sensing. Thus, voltage indicators that change color in response to membrane depolarization may offer a key advantage over those that change intensity. We also identify the regimes in which commonplace ratiometric analysis of signals from fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) indicators is sub-optimal and describe new, optimal filtering techniques. Overall, our treatment offers a valuable guide to experimental design, by showing how different optical factors interact to affect signal quality, and provides measures of confidence to assess optically extracted traces of neural activity.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Wilt, Brian Alten |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics |
| Primary advisor | Schnitzer, Mark Jacob, 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | Schnitzer, Mark Jacob, 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | El Gamal, Abbas A |
| Thesis advisor | Mabuchi, Hideo |
| Advisor | El Gamal, Abbas A |
| Advisor | Mabuchi, Hideo |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Brian Alten Wilt. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Applied Physics. |
| Thesis | Ph.D. Stanford University 2012 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2012 by Brian Alten Wilt
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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