Favored patterns in spike trains. I. Detection

Traditional spike-train analysis methods cannot identify patterns of firing that occur frequently but at arbitrary times. It is appropriate to search for recurring patterns because such patterns could be used for information transfer. In this paper, we present two methods for identifying "favored patterns" --patterns that occur more often than is reasonably expected at random. The quantized Monte Carlo method identifies and establishes significance for favored patterns whose detailed timing may vary but that do not have extra or missing spikes. The template method identifies favored patterns whose occurrences may have extra or missing spikes. This method is useful when employed after the results of the first method are known. Studies with simulated spike trains containing known interpolated patterns are used to establish the sensitivity and accuracy of the quantized Monte Carlo method. Certain trends with regard to parameters of the detected patterns and of the analysis methods are described. Application of these methods to neurophysiological data has shown that a large proportion of spike trains have favored patterns. These findings are described in the accompanying paper (3).