Stimulus Onset Hub: an Open-Source, Low Latency, and Opto-Isolated Trigger Box for Neuroscientific Research...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Accurate stimulus onset timing is crucial for behavioral research, impacting data quality in neuroscience and cognitive science.
• Variability in stimulus onset delivery to recording systems (EEG, ECoG, eye-tracking) degrades scientific analysis.
• Existing solutions can be costly and lack flexibility for diverse laboratory environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a low-cost, open-source system for precise stimulus onset timing.
• To achieve high temporal accuracy (≤ 4 microseconds) and electrical opto-isolation.
• To create a configurable system adaptable to various laboratory setups and recording devices.

Main Methods:

• An Arduino-based system was designed and implemented with an open-source codebase.
• The system generates Transistor-Transistor Logic (TTL) triggers for stimulus onsets.
• Electrical opto-isolation was incorporated to protect connected recording equipment.

Main Results:

• The system achieved a maximum input/output delay of 4 microseconds.
• Electrical opto-isolation was successfully implemented.
• The device was tested and validated with seven different systems recording eye and neurological data.

Conclusions:

• This affordable, open-source system significantly enhances temporal accuracy in stimulus onset delivery.
• The system's configurability and opto-isolation make it a versatile tool for diverse neuroscience research.
• It provides a reliable solution for improving data integrity in behavioral and neurophysiological studies.