Speaker
Description
Understanding how structural synaptic connectivity shapes neuronal network function remains a fundamental challenge in neuroscience. While optical imaging now allows the simultaneous recording of thousands of neurons, most studies rely on calcium signals, which lack the temporal resolution to capture fast spiking and synaptic dynamics \cite{Pa17}. Recent advances in Genetically Encoded Voltage Indicators (GEVIs) offer a promising alternative for recording these events across large populations. In this work, we present a methodology to infer network connectivity directly from voltage traces \cite{N22,Al23}. Our approach first identifies putative synaptic events and then employs Multi-Class Logistic Regression with $L_1$ regularization (MCLRL) to map these events to spiking activity while enforcing network sparseness. Benchmarked against in silico simulations, the MCLRL framework demonstrated high precision, as evidenced by the Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC). Notably, the method accurately reconstructed connectivity even when sampling only subgroups of neurons and proved remarkably robust to noise (MCC > 0.95 with 95% noise). Finally, we propose a procedure to optimize the regularization term, facilitating the application of MCLRL to experimental data. This research was conducted in collaboration with G. Aletti, T. Nieus, and S. Diwakar (Amita University).
Bibliography
@ARTICLE{N22,
author = {Nieus, Thierry and Borgonovo, Daniele and Diwakar, Shyam and Aletti, Giacomo and Naldi, Giovanni},
title = {A multi-class logistic regression algorithm to reliably infer network connectivity from cell membrane potentials},
year = {2022},
journal = {Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics},
volume = {8},}
@ARTICLE{Al23,
author = {Aletti, G. and Benfenati, A. and Naldi, G.},
title = {A NEW NONLOCAL NONLINEAR DIFFUSION EQUATION: THE ONE-DIMENSIONAL CASE},
year = {2022},
journal = {Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society},
volume = {106},
number = {2},
pages = {333 – 339},
}
@ARTICLE{Pa17,
author = {Palazzolo, G. and Moroni, M. and Soloperto, A. and Aletti, G. and Naldi, G. and Vassalli, M. and Nieus, T. and Difato, F.},
title = {Fast wide-volume functional imaging of engineered in vitro brain tissues},
year = {2017},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
volume = {7},
number = {1},
}
