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Analysis and interpretation of quadratic models of receptive fields

Nature Protocols volume 2, pages 400–407 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

In this protocol, we present a procedure to analyze and visualize models of neuronal input–output functions that have a quadratic, a linear and a constant term, to determine their overall behavior. The suggested interpretations are close to those given by physiological studies of neurons, making the proposed methods particularly suitable for the analysis of receptive fields resulting from physiological measurements or model simulations.

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Figure 1: Eigenvectors of the quadratic term of two units learned in the simulation.
Figure 2: Optimal excitatory and inhibitory stimuli for some of the units in the simulation.
Figure 3: Illustration of the method used to visualize the invariances.
Figure 4: Example invariances at the optimal stimuli for some of the units.
Figure 5: Significant invariances.

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Acknowledgements

The figures have been reproduced with permission from ref. 20. This work has been supported by a grant to L.W. from the Volkswagen Foundation and by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK

    Pietro Berkes

  2. Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, Berlin, D-10115, Germany

    Laurenz Wiskott

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  1. Pietro Berkes
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  2. Laurenz Wiskott
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Correspondence to Pietro Berkes.

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Berkes, P., Wiskott, L. Analysis and interpretation of quadratic models of receptive fields. Nat Protoc 2, 400–407 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2007.27

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