Separation of synaptic and spike activity in intracellular recordings for selective analysis

A software spike filter has been developed which allows the separation of synaptic activity and action potentials in intracellular recordings. The algorithm uses the different velocities of the membrane potential during synaptic and spike activity and a time window to identify action potentials. When spikes are recognized, they are removed and the membrane potential is substituted by interpolated values. The spike filter makes possible a separate quantitative evaluation of postsynaptic potentials and spike activity. Thus a comprehensive characterization of neuron activity can be obtained. The spike filter is part of a modular software package designed for the evaluation of neurobiological data.