Decoding in the Fourth Dimension: Classification of Temporal Patterns and Their Generalization Across Locations

Neuroimaging research has increasingly used decoding techniques, in which multivariate statistical methods identify patterns in neural data that allow the classification of experimental conditions or participant groups. Typically, the features used for decoding are spatial in nature, including voxel patterns and electrode locations. However, the strength of many neurophysiological recording techniques such as electroencephalography or magnetoencephalography is in their rich temporal, rather than spatial, content. The present report introduces the time-GAL toolbox, which implements a decoding method based on time information in electrophysiological recordings. The toolbox first quantifies the decodable information contained in neural time series. This information is then used in a subsequent step, generalization across location (GAL), which characterizes the relationship between sensor locations based on their ability to cross-decode. Two datasets are used to demonstrate the usage of the toolbox, involving (1) event-related potentials in response to affective pictures and (2) steady-state visual evoked potentials in response to aversively conditioned grating stimuli. In both cases, experimental conditions were successfully decoded based on the temporal features contained in the neural time series. Spatial cross-decoding occurred in regions known to be involved in visual and affective processing. We conclude that the approach implemented in the time-GAL toolbox holds promise for analyzing neural time series from a wide range of paradigms and measurement domains providing an assumption-free method to quantifying differences in temporal patterns of neural information processing and whether these patterns are shared across sensor locations.