Maximum-entropy and representative samples of neuronal activity: a dilemma
Abstract
The present work shows that the maximum-entropy method can be applied to a sample of neuronal recordings along two different routes: (1) apply to the sample; or (2) apply to a larger, unsampled neuronal population from which the sample is drawn, and then marginalize to the sample. These two routes give inequivalent results. The second route can be further generalized to the case where the size of the larger population is unknown. Which route should be chosen? Some arguments are presented in favour of the second. This work also presents and discusses probability formulae that relate states of knowledge about a population and its samples, and that may be useful for sampling problems in neuroscience.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1805.09084,
title = {Maximum-entropy and representative samples of neuronal activity: a dilemma},
author = {PierGianLuca Porta Mana and Vahid Rostami and Emiliano Torre and Yasser Roudi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.09084},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
12 pages, 2 figures. V2: added references and updated contact details