Computer assisted neurophysiological analysis of cell assemblies activity

A critical feature of brain theories is whether neurons convey a noisy rate code or a precise temporal code. One of most valuable ways to test these t heories consists in collecting the electrophysiological activity of cell as sembles under several experimental conditions. The sequences of cell discha rges-the spike trains-form time series whose dynamics is strongly related t o the information processing carried out in the brain areas under study. Ou r purpose is to provide a user-friendly framework of a 'Virtual Laboratory' where computational neuroscience analyses and display of results can be di stributed over a computer network, like Internet. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.