What can spike train distances tell us about the neural code?

Abstract

Time scale parametric spike train distances like the Victor and the van Rossum distances/nare often applied to study the neural code based on neural stimuli discrimination./nDifferent neural coding hypotheses, such as rate or coincidence coding,/ncan be assessed by combining a time scale parametric spike train distance with a/nclassifier in order to obtain the optimal discrimination performance. The time scale/nfor which the responses to different stimuli are distinguished best is assumed to be/nthe discriminative precision of the neural code. The relevance of temporal coding/nis evaluated by comparing the optimal discrimination performance with the one/nachieved when assuming a rate code./nWe here characterize the measures quantifying the discrimination performance,/nthe discriminative precision, and the relevance of temporal coding. Furthermore,/nwe evaluate the information these quantities provide about the neural code. We/nshow that the discriminative precision is too unspecific to be interpreted in terms/nof the time scales relevant for encoding. Accordingly, the time scale parametric/nnature of the distances is mainly an advantage because it allows maximizing the/ndiscrimination performance across a whole set of measures with different sensitivities/ndetermined by the time scale parameter, but not due to the possibility to/nexamine the temporal properties of the neural code.