ElecFeX is a user-friendly toolbox for efficient feature extraction from single-cell electrophysiological recordings

• Published in: Cell reports methods Vol. 4; no. 6; p. 100791
• Main Authors: Ma, Xinyue, Miraucourt, Loïs S., Qiu, Haoyi, Xu, Mengyi, Cook, Erik P., Krishnaswamy, Arjun, Sharif-Naeini, Reza, Khadra, Anmar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 17.06.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: current-clamp recordings; dataset; electrophysiological feature extraction; graphical user interface; MATLAB; open source; single-cell electrophysiology; spike detection; spike properties; toolbox; open source; current-clamp recordings; electrophysiological feature extraction; CP: Neuroscience; graphical user interface; spike properties; toolbox; single-cell electrophysiology; spike detection; dataset; MATLAB
• ISSN: 2667-2375; 2667-2375
• DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2024.100791

Characterizing neurons by their electrophysiological phenotypes is essential for understanding the neural basis of behavioral and cognitive functions. Technological developments have enabled the collection of hundreds of neural recordings; this calls for new tools capable of performing feature extraction efficiently. To address the urgent need for a powerful and accessible tool, we developed ElecFeX, an open-source MATLAB-based toolbox that (1) has an intuitive graphical user interface, (2) provides customizable measurements for a wide range of electrophysiological features, (3) processes large-size datasets effortlessly via batch analysis, and (4) yields formatted output for further analysis. We implemented ElecFeX on a diverse set of neural recordings; demonstrated its functionality, versatility, and efficiency in capturing electrical features; and established its significance in distinguishing neuronal subgroups across brain regions and species. ElecFeX is thus presented as a user-friendly toolbox to benefit the neuroscience community by minimizing the time required for extracting features from their electrophysiological datasets. [Display omitted] •ElecFeX is a MATLAB-based GUI for electrophysiological feature extraction•It provides customizable methods for common spike-train and single-spike properties•Batch analysis enables efficient and reproducible processing of large datasets•A formatted output is exportable for further neuronal comparison and/or clustering Profiling neurons by their electrophysiological phenotype is essential for understanding their roles in information coding within and beyond the nervous systems. Technological developments continue to expand the ability to record neurons, but increasing dataset sizes pose new challenges for data analysis. With current software tools, analysis remains time consuming and often requires users to have significant programming knowledge, which impedes their prevalence among experimentalists. To address this problem, we present ElecFeX, an open-source MATLAB-based graphical user interface (GUI) designed for a more accessible and efficient analysis of single-cell electrophysiological recordings. Ma et al. report ElecFeX, a MATLAB-based graphical user interface designed for electrophysiological feature extraction from single-cell recordings. The toolbox offers functionality, versatility, and efficiency in processing diverse datasets, as demonstrated through analyses across species, brain regions, and dataset sizes.