Stochastic modeling for neural spiking events based on fractional superstatistical Poisson process

Abstract

In neural spike counting experiments, it is known that there are two main features: (i) the counting number has a fractional power-law growth with time and (ii) the waiting time (i.e., the inter-spike-interval) distribution has a heavy tail. The method of superstatistical Poisson processes (SSPPs) is examined whether these main features are properly modeled. Although various mixed/compound Poisson processes are generated with selecting a suitable distribution of the birth-rate of spiking neurons, only the second feature (ii) can be modeled by the method of SSPPs. Namely, the first one (i) associated with the effect of long-memory cannot be modeled properly. Then, it is shown that the two main features can be modeled successfully by a class of fractional SSPP (FSSPP).