Burst Firing Rate

Summarize already-detected burst intervals as event rate, burst-assigned spike rate and mean within-burst ISI rate; differs from classifying raw spike burst fraction.

Description

Burst occurrence rate, burst-associated spike rate and within-burst interval rate use different denominators.

Burst occurrence rate, burst-associated spike rate and within-burst interval rate use different denominators. Reporting all three avoids calling them the same firing rate.

The tool returns burstsPerSecond (bursts per second); burstSpikesPerSecond (burst spikes per second); meanWithinBurstRateHz (mean within burst rate hz). Input measurements and model parameters are supplied by the caller; the tool computes the stated summary rather than acquiring those measurements.

When to use Burst Firing Rate

Use Burst Firing Rate when you already have burstIntervalsSeconds, spikesPerBurst, recordingDurationSeconds and want burstsPerSecond, burstSpikesPerSecond, meanWithinBurstRateHz. This is useful for checking a supplied calculation, documenting a measurement convention, or comparing observations prepared on the same basis.

How to use Burst Firing Rate and understand its results

Enter burstIntervalsSeconds, spikesPerBurst, recordingDurationSeconds using the field table below. Match the units, ordering and data boundaries described in the calculation.
Run the tool after checking the stated bounds and matching paired observations or categories. A malformed request gives a tool error rather than a usable measurement.
Read burstsPerSecond, burstSpikesPerSecond, meanWithinBurstRateHz. Use the calculation and interpretation below to distinguish amounts, ratios, signs and decision flags where applicable.
Review the supplied parameters and assumptions before using the result in a report or comparing it with another observation.

Input field	Meaning	Value type and bounds	Requirement
burstIntervalsSeconds	Burst intervals seconds	list of list of number	Required
spikesPerBurst	Spikes per burst	list of number	Required
recordingDurationSeconds	Recording duration seconds	number	Required

Use ordered nonoverlapping positive-duration windows inside the recording with at least two spikes each. Average the per-burst interval rates equally.

bursts/s = count/duration; burst spikes/s = Σspikes/duration; within-burst Hz = (spikes−1)/(end−start)

The symbols refer to the supplied quantities or generated values described above; unit conversions and comparison boundaries follow the stated implementation.

json

{
  "input": {
    "burstIntervalsSeconds": [
      [
        1,
        1.2
      ],
      [
        3,
        3.4
      ]
    ],
    "spikesPerBurst": [
      3,
      4
    ],
    "recordingDurationSeconds": 10
  },
  "output": {
    "burstsPerSecond": 0.2,
    "burstSpikesPerSecond": 0.7,
    "meanWithinBurstRateHz": 8.750000000000002
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Windows and counts are supplied; the tool does not detect bursts from timestamps. Adjacent windows may share a boundary.

Numerical inputs must be finite. The tool checks its declared input shape and calculation constraints; those checks do not verify the quality, calibration or representativeness of the supplied observations.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Burst Index: Classify maximal spike runs using a supplied ISI gap and minimum burst length; report the fraction of spikes assigned to bursts, not a universal burst-index definition. Peak Firing Rate: Bin timestamped spikes into caller-defined half-open, possibly unequal-duration bins and report the peak observed firing rate.

Methodological background: Spike train variability.^[1]

References

Spike train variability — Gerstner et al.; Neuronal Dynamics

Similar or alternative tools

Burst Index
Classify maximal spike runs using a supplied ISI gap and minimum burst length; report the fraction of spikes assigned to bursts, not a universal burst-index definition.
Peak Firing Rate
Bin timestamped spikes into caller-defined half-open, possibly unequal-duration bins and report the peak observed firing rate.