RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Interpreting Wide-Band Neural Activity Using Convolutional Neural Networks JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 871848 DO 10.1101/871848 A1 Markus Frey A1 Sander Tanni A1 Catherine Perrodin A1 Alice O’Leary A1 Matthias Nau A1 Jack Kelly A1 Andrea Banino A1 Daniel Bendor A1 Christian F. Doeller A1 Caswell Barry YR 2020 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/11/26/871848.abstract AB Rapid progress in technologies such as calcium imaging and electrophysiology has seen a dramatic increase in the size and extent of neural recordings. Even so, interpretation of this data often depends on manual operations and requires considerable knowledge about the nature of the representation. Decoding provides a means to infer the information content of such recordings but typically requires highly processed data and prior knowledge of the encoding scheme. Here, we developed a deep-learning-framework able to decode sensory and behavioural variables directly from wide-band neural data. The network requires little user input and generalizes across stimuli, behaviours, brain regions, and recording techniques. Once trained, it can be analysed to determine elements of the neural code that are informative about a given variable. We validated this approach using data from rodent auditory cortex and hippocampus, identifying a novel representation of head direction encoded by putative CA1 interneurons.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.