An artificial neural network for automated behavioral state classification in rats

While accurate behavioral state classification is critical for many research applications, it is often done manually, which can be both tedious and inaccurate. Here we present a novel artificial neural network that uses electrophysiological features to automatically classify behavioral state in rats with high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Common parameters of interest to sleep scientists, including state-dependent power spectra and homeostatic non-REM slow wave activity, did not significantly differ when using this automated classifier as compared to manual scoring. Flexible options enable researchers to further increase classification accuracy through manual rescoring of a small subset of epochs with low model prediction certainty or further decrease researcher time by generalizing trained networks across multiple recording days. The algorithm is fully open-source and coded within R, a popular and freely available software platform, to increase access to this research tool and provide additional flexibility for future researchers. In sum, we have developed a readily implementable, efficient, and effective approach for automated behavioral state classification in rats.

Project Author(s)

Jacob Ellen; Mike Dash

Project Links

https://github.com/jellen44/AutomaticSleepScoringTool

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