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TRENTOOL: a Matlab open source toolbox to analyse information flow in time series data with transfer entropy
Michael Lindner1, Raul Vicente, Viola Priesemann
1MEG Unit, Brain Imaging Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
BMC Neuroscience
|November 22, 2011
Summary
Transfer entropy (TE) analysis, implemented in the TRENTOOL MATLAB toolbox, reliably detects directed neuronal interactions. The toolbox accurately identified information flow in simulated data and from retina to tectum in turtle LFP recordings.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Information Theory
- Computational Biology
Background:
- Transfer entropy (TE) is a model-free measure for detecting directed interactions, rooted in Wiener's principle of observational causality.
- TE can analyze both linear and nonlinear interactions, offering a comprehensive approach to studying neural networks.
- Existing methods for TE analysis can be complex, necessitating user-friendly tools for validation and application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce TRENTOOL, an open-source MATLAB toolbox designed to simplify the application and validation of transfer entropy analysis.
- To demonstrate the efficacy of TRENTOOL using simulated data with nonlinear coupling and real neural data.
Main Methods:
- Development of TRENTOOL, a MATLAB toolbox integrating transfer entropy and mutual information analysis.
- Utilizing non-parametrical statistical testing for result validation within TRENTOOL.
- Application of TRENTOOL to simulated data and local field potentials (LFP) from turtle retina and optic tectum.
Main Results:
- TRENTOOL reliably detected information flow in simulated data, with false positive rates consistent with the null hypothesis.
- Analysis of LFP data revealed directed interactions from the retina to the optic tectum.
- No false positive interactions were detected in the reverse direction (tectum to retina).
Conclusions:
- TRENTOOL provides a user-friendly implementation of transfer entropy and mutual information analysis for neuroscience research.
- The toolbox is available under an open-source license (GPL v3) and integrates with the FieldTrip toolbox for neural data analysis.
- TRENTOOL facilitates the comprehensive analysis of directed interactions in neural systems.
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