Plexon Offline Sorter v4.7.1: The Neural Spike Sorting Standard
Plexon Offline Sorter v4.7.1 is a specialized, industry-standard software designed for the detection, sorting, and classification of neuronal action potentials (“spikes”) from extracellular electrophysiology recordings. It is a critical tool for neuroscientists and researchers working with data from multi-electrode arrays, tetrodes, or single electrodes, enabling the isolation of individual neuron activity from complex neural signals for advanced brain function analysis.
Core Function: Isolating Single-Neuron Activity
The software processes raw voltage waveforms to separate overlapping spikes from different neurons recorded on the same channel, transforming a noisy signal into clean, classified single-unit and multi-unit activity datasets.
Key Functions:
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Spike Detection & Feature Extraction: Automatically identifies spike events and extracts key waveform features (e.g., peak, valley, width) for classification.
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Advanced Sorting Algorithms: Utilizes template matching, principal component analysis (PCA), and other methods to cluster spikes into distinct units representing individual neurons.
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Interactive Cluster Visualization: Allows manual review and adjustment of sorted clusters in 2D/3D feature space to ensure accuracy.
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Data Export & Compatibility: Exports sorted timestamps and waveforms for further analysis in statistical or neuroinformatics tools. Compatible with Plexon and other common data formats.