Segmentation of the response of a neuronal network into clusters with similar activity

An important question in the analysis of the electrical activity of a large population of neurons is the detection of families of neurons having a similar pattern of electrical activity, so that the original neuronal network can be decomposed into distinct clusters. This paper describes how it is possible to segment the activity of a neuronal network into clusters of sites with similar patterns of activity. Such a segmentation gives insight on how the network is organized, on how it functions and on its behavior as a dynamical system. Simulation and experiments on real data suggest that the correct approach to solve these problems must use multiresolution analysis. The method has been applied to both synthetic data and real data coming from a network of dissociated cortical neurons from neonatal rat brain. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.