PySpike - A Python library for analyzing spike train synchrony

TL;DR

PySpike is an open-source Python library that offers parameter-free, time-scale independent measures for analyzing neural spike train synchrony, facilitating research in neuroscience and other fields.

Contribution

PySpike introduces a versatile, easy-to-use Python package for spike train analysis with novel parameter-free and time-scale independent synchrony measures.

Findings

Provides similarity and dissimilarity profiles

Enables computation of averaged values and distance matrices

Applicable beyond neuroscience to climate and social sciences

Abstract

Understanding how the brain functions is one of the biggest challenges of our time. The analysis of experimentally recorded neural firing patterns (spike trains) plays a crucial role in addressing this problem. Here, the PySpike library is introduced, a Python package for spike train analysis providing parameter-free and time-scale independent measures of spike train synchrony. It allows to compute similarity and dissimilarity profiles, averaged values and distance matrices. Although mainly focusing on neuroscience, PySpike can also be applied in other contexts like climate research or social sciences. The package is available as Open Source on Github and PyPI.