Combine and Compare Population Activity Data¶

This tool uses 1.0 compute credits per hour.

Overview¶

This tool is used to combine population activity data from multiple recordings and perform a statistical comparison between two groups across two states to determine if there is a difference either in the fractions of up- or down-modulated neurons or the mean neural activity.

Parameters¶

Parameter	Required?	Default	Description
Population Activity Files	True	N/A	Select population activity data from the first group to use for analysis
Name	True	group1	Name of the first group
Population Activity Files	False	N/A	Select population activity data from the second group to use for analysis
Name	False	N/A	Name of the second group
Comparison Type	False	N/A	Type of statistical test to perform
Data Pairing	False	N/A	Indicates whether observations should be paired for statistical comparison
Significance Threshold	False	N/A	p-value threshold

Valid Inputs¶

Source Parameter	File Type	File Format
Population Activity Files	modulation_data	csv
Population Activity Files	modulation_data	csv

Algorithm Description¶

The workflow is summarized using a flowchart below.

graph TD A[Combine population activity data from first group] --> C[Compare data from two input groups]; B[Combine population activity data from second group] --> C[Compare data from two input groups];

The workflow begins by combining the data in the first input group. If no data is selected for the second input group, the workflow terminates upon combining the data from the first group. If data is selected for the second group, that data will be combined independently of the first group. Finally, the two groups are compared to determine if there is statistically significant difference between them.

Combination¶

The combination step is performed independently for each input group. The process starts with the aggregation of the data from all recordings in the group, creating a population of cells. Individual cells are classified as up-, down-, or non-modulated based on the significance threshold parameter. The fraction of up-, down-, and non-modulated neurons across the aggregated population of cells is computed for each state along with the corresponding population mean activity.

Comparison¶

The fraction of neurons in each modulation category and corresponding mean activity obtained in the previous step are combined for each state. A t-test is then performed to compare the means of the two groups for each state and each modulation category (up-modulated, down-modulated, non-modulated). The t-statistic and corresponding p-value is reported for each statistical test. We specifically test for the null hypothesis that the two groups have identical average values. The alternative hypothesis tested is determined by the comparison type parameter as described in the table below.

Comparison Type	Hypothesis Tested
One-Tailed (Less)	fraction of modulated neurons (or mean neural activity) in the first group is less than the second group
One-Tailed (Greater)	fraction of modulated neurons (or mean neural activity) in the first group is greater than the second group
Two-Tailed (Unequal)	fraction of modulated neurons (or mean neural activity) in the first group is different from the second group, i.e. fraction of modulated neurons (or mean neural activity) in the the first group is either less than or greater than the second group

Output Figures¶

Combination Figures¶

Comparison Figures¶

Legend¶

Panel	Description
A, B	Pie charts showing the fraction of up-, down-, and non-modulated neurons across states in the first and second groups, respectively.
C, E	Scatter plot showing the relationship between the mean neural activity of each cell in the two states of interest.
D, F	Bar plot depicting the mean activity across all cells for each state.
G	Comparison of the fraction of neurons in each modulation category between the two input groups. The mean ± sem is plotted along with the individual data points, each representing a recording session. The top panel includes data for the first state while the bottom panel includes data for the second state.
H	Comparison of the mean neural activity in each modulation category between the two input groups. The mean ± sem is plotted along with the individual data points, each representing a recording session. The top panel includes data for the first state while the bottom panel includes data for the second state.

Output Data¶

Combination Data¶

A csv file containing the population activity data of all cells in the group.

Comparison Data¶

A csv file containing a summary of the statistical tests performed.