User Interface

NeuroPlex's first user interface (shown at left, Enlarge) for analysis contains two windows for viewing data. The right window, called the Page Display, displays data from all pixels as they are positioned in the array. The Trace Display (left window) provides a larger view of data from a reduced number of pixels or electrode inputs. Pixels can be selected for this more detailed examination by pointing and clicking on the traces in the Page Display. A variety of low- and high-pass filters and display adjustments are available for each display.

The Trace Display also provides additional controls for averaging over diodes, superimposing and scaling traces.

The second analysis interface within NeuroPlex provides pseudocolor displays of the data (shown at right, Enlarge). Options for pseudocolor image displays include single frame, multiple frame, and movie displays of the time series. For anatomical reference, the pseudocolor images can be overlaid on an image of the preparation. A variety of color schemes, scaling, and filtering options are available.

Additional information

Two different kinds of data display are provided. The first is intensity vs. time for the individual detectors and the second is a simultaneous pseudocolor display of intensity for all detectors at a particular time. A long series of such pseudocolor frames can be played as a movie.

Intensity VS. Time:
There are two display windows on the main NeuroPlex widget. The Page Display displays intensity versus time for all detectors (plus 8 BNC channels) in the arrangement of the photodiode array. The individual traces can be displayed with an enlargement on the Trace Display by clicking them individually on the Page Display. The two displays can be filtered and processed separately. In addition to the usual X and Y gain adjustments, the following kinds of high- and low- pass filtering are available:
· Gaussian,
· Butterworth,
· median,
· RC,
· and binomial.

Traces can be displayed as intensity change ( I) vs. time or as fractional intensity change ( I/I) vs. time.

The Page Display can be modified by a fudge array (replaces bad detectors with the average of the four adjacent detectors) or an omit array (replaces detectors with no signal with a flat line).

The Trace Display can display:
1. The spatial averages of selected traces,
2. The FFT of selected traces,
3. The correlation between traces,
4. Spaced or superimposed traces,
5. Superimposed traces can be scaled to equal height for comparing time courses, and
6. Both the Page display and the Trace display can be exported as a TIFF file, a PostScript file or an ASCII file.

Pseudo-Color Frames:
The filtered data can be made into pseudocolor movie frames and then be viewed as individual frames, or multiple frames in one window, or as an animated movie. The color of the frames can be manipulated by using different color tables and four different scaling schemes.

The scaling schemes are:
· Variable (each detector will have the maximum and the minimum color at some time in the trial),
· Fixed; using the trace with the largest signal,
· Fixed; using a user chosen detector, and
· Manual.
(When you've tried all these options, it will be clear why it is called pseudo-color).

The movie frames can also be overlayed onto a high resolution CCD image of the preparation by importing its TIFF or BMP file. The movie can be saved as a movie file and the file can then be read and replayed by NeuroPlex. The display on the movie window can be exported as a TIFF