A cluster of workstations for on-line analyses of neurophysiological data

Recent advances in the fields of neuroscience, computer science, and biomedical engineering now allow for the analysis of large-scale neurophysiological data sets to be carried out on-line and in real time. Here, we described an on-going effort in our research laboratory to build a computer system that will allow for on-line, real-time analyses of the response properties of ensembles of neurons (as many as 256) recorded in the brains of awake animals that perform behavioral tasks. A cluster of workstations allows us to carry out sequential and simultaneous analyses of neuronal signals. This new methodology can be used to change a behavioral task on-line to test real-time decoding of brain signals.