RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Rigbox: An Open-Source Toolbox for Probing Neurons and Behavior
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 672204
DO 10.1101/672204
A1 Jai Bhagat
A1 Miles Wells
A1 Andrew Peters
A1 Kenneth D Harris
A1 Matteo Carandini
A1 Christopher P Burgess
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/06/15/672204.abstract
AB Setting up an experiment in behavioral neuroscience is a complex process that is often managed with ad hoc solutions. To streamline this process we developed Rigbox, a high-performance, open-source software toolbox (github.com/cortex-lab/Rigbox). Rigbox simplifies the interfacing of hardware and software, synchronizes data streams from multiple sources, manages data via communication with a remote database, implements a viewing model for visual stimuli, and creates an environment where experimental parameters can be easily monitored and manipulated. The toolbox facilitates a modular approach to designing experiments. Rigbox runs in MATLAB, with Java components to handle network communication, and a C library to boost performance. Its main submodule, Signals, allows intuitive programming of behavioral experiments. Here we illustrate its function with two interactive examples: a human psychophysics experiment, and the game of Pong. We give an overview of the other packages in Rigbox, provide benchmarks, and conclude with a discussion on the extensibility of the software and comparisons with similar toolboxes.