The research contained in this thesis extends multivariate marked point process modeling methods for neuroscience, generalizes goodness-of-fit techniques for the class of marked point processes, and introduces the use of a general history-dependent point process model to the domain of sleep apnea.
Our first project involves further development of a modeling tool for spiking data from neural populations using the theory of marked point processes. This marked point process model uses features of spike waveforms as marks in order to estimate a state variable of interest. We examine the informational content of geometric features as well as principal components of the waveforms at hippocampal place cell activity by comparing decoding accuracies of a rat's position along a track. We determined that there was additional information available beyond that contained in traditional geometric features used for decoding in practice.
The expanded use of this marked point process model in neuroscience necessitates corresponding goodness-of-fit protocols for the marked case. In our second project, we develop a generalized time-rescaling method for marked point processes that produces uniformly distributed spikes under a proper model. Once rescaled, the ground process then behaves as a Poisson process and can be analyzed using traditional point process goodness-of-fit methods. We demonstrate the method's ability to detect quality and manner of fit through both simulation and real neural data analysis.
In the final project, we introduce history-dependent point process modeling as a superior method for characterizing severe sleep apnea over the current clinical standard known as the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). We analyze model fits using combinations of both clinical covariates and event observations themselves through functions of history. Ultimately, apnea onset times were consistently estimated with significantly higher accuracy when history was incorporated alongside sleep stage. We present this method to the clinical audience as a means to gain detailed information on patterns of apnea and to provide more customized diagnoses and treatment prescriptions.
These separate yet complementary projects extend existing point process modeling methods and further demonstrate their value in the neurosciences, sleep sciences, and beyond.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/34778 |
| Date | 16 February 2019 |
| Creators | Weber, Karoline |
| Contributors | Eden, Uri T., Prerau, Michael J. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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