Background

Accurate interpretation of electrophysiological data in cognitive and behavioral experiments requires the acquisition of time labels, such as marking the exact start of a condition or moment a stimulus is presented to a research subject.

New Method

Here we present an inexpensive (∼30 USD) device used as a central relay for multiple peripheral devices, such as a computer screen presenting an experiment, a pressure-sensor push button, a multi-button responder, a pulse oximeter sensor, a light-emitting diode trigger for camera synchronization, and so on. We refer to this device as the Florida Research Open-source Synchronization Tool (FROST). FROST allows for easy hardware and Arduino-based firmware modifications that enable a standard platform for the integration of novel peripheral sensors.

Results

With two examples, we demonstrate the application of this device during human research experiments: intracranial-electroencephalography (EEG) recordings in a patient with epilepsy and surface-EEG recordings in a healthy participant. We provide an example setup for a rodent experiment as well. We also demonstrate the timing delays of our device.

Comparison with existing methods

There is currently a very limited number of existing open-source synchronization tools for electrophysiological research that enable customization with new device compatibility. We developed this tool to enable widespread replication for many applications through an open-source platform.

Conclusions

The device can be easily adapted for research experiments beyond the included example cases. All materials are open-source at github.com/Brain-Mapping-Lab/FROST.

中文翻译：

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佛罗里达研究电生理实验的开源同步工具（FROST）。

背景

在认知和行为实验中对电生理数据的准确解释需要获取时间标签，例如标记条件的确切开始或向研究对象提供刺激的时刻。

新方法

在这里，我们介绍了一种便宜的设备（约30美元），它用作多个外围设备的中央继电器，例如呈现实验的计算机屏幕，压力传感器按钮，多按钮响应器，脉搏血氧仪传感器，照明灯发射二极管触发器，以实现相机同步，等等。我们将此设备称为Florida Research开放源代码同步工具（FROST）。FROST允许轻松的硬件和基于Arduino的固件修改，从而为集成新型外围传感器的标准平台提供了支持。

结果

通过两个示例，我们演示了该设备在人类研究实验中的应用：癫痫患者的颅内脑电图（EEG）记录和健康参与者的表面EEG记录。我们还提供了啮齿动物实验的示例设置。我们还演示了设备的时序延迟。

与现有方法的比较

当前，用于电生理研究的现有开源同步工具数量非常有限，这些工具可实现与新设备兼容的定制。我们开发了此工具，以通过开源平台对许多应用程序进行广泛的复制。

结论

除了随附的示例案例外，该设备还可以轻松地用于研究实验。所有材料在github.com/Brain-Mapping-Lab/FROST是开源的。