CN104173047B - Networked behavior electrophysiological experiment system through collaboration of multiple computers - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a behavioral electrophysiological experiment system, comprising: one or more behavioral electrophysiological experiment units, a computing control server, and a database server; wherein, the behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit includes a main control computer and a controlled Experimental equipment, the main control computer controls the controlled experimental equipment to give experimental animals stimulation signals, and collects and records the behavior information and electrophysiological experiment data of the experimental animals in real time; the computing control server communicates with the main computer The control computer is connected through the main control local area network, receives the behavior information and the electrophysiological experiment data transmitted by the main control computer and performs analysis and calculation; the database server is connected with the calculation control server through the main control local area network, and uses To store data and information from the computing control server. The invention can effectively improve the accuracy and efficiency of behavioral electrophysiological experiments, and the immediacy of supervision.

Description

Networked Multi-Computer Cooperative Behavioral Electrophysiological Experiment System

technical field

The invention relates to a system for conducting behavioral electrophysiological experiments using a three-dimensional network composed of multiple computers and a related method, belonging to the field of neuroscience.

Background technique

Modern behavioral electrophysiology laboratories have generally used computers, and their degree of automation has been greatly improved compared with traditional ones. However, the usual behavioral electrophysiological experiments are controlled by a computer through a CPU time-sharing method (pseudo real-time) to control several experimental equipment, which cannot realize the real real-time functions of giving various experimental stimuli and collecting various experimental data.

For example, record animal behavior videos (25 frames per second, 640×480 resolution, color depth 24bit) and multi-channel EEG signals (sampling frequency is 1KHz/channel, and the number of channels is generally 10) when animals are given light and sound stimulation Above), if a computer (whether multi-core CPU or not) is used to control the experimental equipment while taking into account data acquisition and/or data analysis (see Figure 3), usually the video data will drop frames (the fewer CPU cores or the higher the main frequency The lower the memory or the smaller the memory, the more serious the frame drop phenomenon), or at the same time accompanied by short-term leakage of EEG signals (the amount of leakage depends on the storage size of the analog-to-digital conversion board (AD board) card and the CPU reads the AD board data speed).

Another problem is that if you want to study the synchronization between different channels of EEG signals and the synchronization between EEG and animal behavior, using only one computer to control the equipment and sample will lead to delays in sending various signals and delays in data acquisition , this delay will lead to inestimable systematic errors in the results of data analysis.

Furthermore, the traditional behavioral electrophysiology experiment system can only know the result of the experiment several hours or one or two days after the experiment is completed. If the experimental strategy needs to revise the research plan in time according to the experimental results, the efficiency of this method is relatively low.

Finally, in the traditional behavioral electrophysiological experiment, if the laboratory leader needs to know the current experiment situation of each experimental group in the laboratory, he can install surveillance video in each experimental unit, but this can only see the scene, But it is impossible to understand the specific situation of the experiment, for example, whether the experimental results meet expectations, whether the experimenter's operation is wrong, and so on.

Therefore, in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of behavioral electrophysiology experiments and strengthen the supervision of experiments, it is necessary to adopt new experimental systems and methods to make up for the shortcomings of the aforementioned traditional methods.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a behavioral electrophysiological experiment system and method that is accurate, efficient, and convenient for immediate supervision in order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the traditional method. The present invention utilizes the computer network and computing control server, and cooperates with corresponding software, systematically organizes multiple computers to form a mutually cooperative behavioral electrophysiological experiment system, so as to improve the accuracy, efficiency and immediacy of supervision of behavioral electrophysiological experiments .

The invention provides a behavior electrophysiology experiment system, which includes: one or more behavior electrophysiology experiment units, a calculation control server, and a database server. Wherein, the behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit includes a main control computer and controlled experimental equipment, and the main control computer controls the controlled experimental equipment to give stimulation signals to the experimental animals, and collect and record the experimental animals in real time. Behavioral information and electrophysiological experimental data. The calculation control server is connected with the main control computer through a main control local area network, receives the experimental data transmitted by the main control computer, and performs analysis and calculation. The database server is connected to the calculation control server through the main control local area network, and is used for storing data and information transmitted from the calculation control server.

The present invention also provides a behavioral electrophysiological experiment system, the behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit also includes one or more working computers, and the main control computer controls all units through a local area network and/or serial port direct connection within the unit. The working computer is used to control the experimental equipment to give stimulation signals to the experimental animals, collect the experimental data of the experimental animals in real time and send the experimental data back to the main control computer. Preferably, the behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit further includes a network monitoring camera, and the network monitoring camera is connected to the computing control server through the main control local area network.

On the other hand, the present invention also includes a set of uniformly written behavioral electrophysiology experiment software, the experiment software at least includes: a real-time experiment control module, installed on the main control computer and the working computer, responsible for controlling the experiment The device conducts behavioral experiments and collects the experimental data in real time, and transmits the collected experimental data to the computing control server during the gap between real-time experimental tasks; the data receiving module is installed on the computing control server and is responsible for responding The request of the main control computer in each of the experimental units receives the experimental data sent by it and stores the experimental data in the memory of the calculation control server, and at the same time transmits these requests to The parallelized data calculation and analysis module enables the data to be calculated and analyzed in time, and finally the results of the calculation and analysis are sent to the main control computer of each of the experimental units; the parallelized data calculation and analysis module is installed on the computer On the control server, there are a variety of calculation components related to behavioral electrophysiology, and the corresponding components are used to complete the calculation according to the request of the main control computer; and the data transmission module is installed on the calculation control server, responsible for the long-term The stored animal information, the experimental data and (/or) video recordings of the experimental scene are transmitted to the database server.

Preferably, the uniformly written behavioral electrophysiological experiment software also includes: an image receiving module, which is installed on the computing control server, and is responsible for receiving the image data of the network monitoring camera in the experimental unit and performing it on the computing control server. The experimental scene in the corresponding experimental unit is displayed in real time on the interface of the server.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the computing control server is a multi-core server or a minicomputer.

The present invention provides a behavioral electrophysiological experiment system and method that is accurate, efficient, and convenient for real-time supervision, and has the following beneficial effects: the present invention utilizes computer networks and computing control servers, and cooperates with corresponding software to systematically organize multiple computers A collaborative behavioral electrophysiological experiment system is formed to improve the accuracy, efficiency, and immediacy of supervision of behavioral electrophysiological experiments.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of hardware connection of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an information flow and data flow diagram and a software function module diagram of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the hardware connection of the traditional method.

detailed description

The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

The invention provides an accurate, efficient and convenient behavioral electrophysiological experiment system and method for real-time supervision. The present invention utilizes the computer network and computing control server, and cooperates with corresponding software, systematically organizes multiple computers to form a mutually cooperative behavioral electrophysiological experiment system, so as to improve the accuracy, efficiency and immediacy of supervision of behavioral electrophysiological experiments .

The field of behavioral electrophysiology has very high requirements for real-time experiments, mainly in the following aspects: First, the parallelism of brain nerve cell work requires researchers to collect EEG information and animal behavior information at a fast enough speed, That is to say, it is necessary to ensure the synchronization and real-time nature of signal acquisition. For example, in order to ensure synchronization, it is necessary to control the error of each channel of the EEG signal within 1ms, the time interval of the limb movement signal within 10ms, and the interval between each frame of the video signal within 20ms; secondly, for researchers Generally speaking, the faster the analysis speed of the experimental results is, the more conducive it is for researchers to make timely adjustments based on the experimental results, thereby improving the efficiency of the experiment, that is, the real-time nature of experimental control. Although different behavioral electrophysiological experiments may adopt different strategies, generally speaking, the results of data analysis are best obtained and displayed within a few minutes; finally, the real-time nature of laboratory management. If the person in charge of the laboratory needs to know the current experimental situation of each experimental group in the laboratory, the traditional method is to install a surveillance camera in each experimental unit, but this can only see the situation on the spot without knowing the specific situation of the experiment , For example, whether the experimental results meet expectations, whether the experimenter's operation is wrong, and so on. Therefore, it will be very helpful for the management of the experiment if the laboratory director can know the specific situation of the experiment without entering each experimental unit.

The behavioral electrophysiological experiment system involved in the present invention is composed of relevant hardware parts and software parts. According to different experimental purposes, the hardware part of the system may include one or more behavioral electrophysiological experimental units, and the hardware structure of each behavioral electrophysiological experimental unit may be different, as shown in Figure 1.

Generally speaking, each unit in such a system includes: a main control computer (HOST), one or more controlled devices (computer monitors, EEG amplifiers, speakers, etc.), and connections to the main control computer. The main control local area network (S-NET); optionally, these units can also include: unit internal local area network (I-NET), and one or more working computers (WORKER).

In the present invention, no matter it is the main control local area network where the computing control server is connected to the main control computer of each unit, or the internal local area network of the unit, they are local area networks well known to those skilled in the art. However, the main control LAN is characterized by fast speed and large data flow (at least the network speed above Gigabit); and the internal LAN of each unit is characterized by fast speed and small data flow (it can be 100M or even 100M). megabit speed). The bandwidth of the main control LAN must be able to meet the needs of the data transmission of the experimental unit and the return speed of the analysis results, and it must also ensure that the experimental monitoring video does not cause a delay of more than 2 seconds; while the bandwidth of the internal LAN of the unit must ensure equipment control and data transmission The speeds are all within the error range allowed by the experiment. In order to meet these requirements, at least two network cards must be connected to the main control LAN and the internal LAN of the unit on the main control computer inside the unit.

If an experimental unit does not have a working computer, the main control computer controls all experimental equipment and collects all experimental signals. If there is a working computer, the main control computer controls the working computer through the unit’s internal LAN and/or serial port direct connection, and only one working computer is controlled by the main control through the unit’s internal LAN (I-NET) and serial port direct connection at the same time. The computer is controlled, and the rest of the working computers are controlled through the unit's internal LAN. Stimulation signals are given to the experimental animals by the working computer, the behavioral electrophysiological data of the animals are collected in real time, the movement information and behavior videos of the experimental animals are recorded, and rewards and punishments are given to the animals according to the animal behavior. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, as an assistant, the main control computer can also control the equipment and collect data. Usually, in behavioral electrophysiological experiments, a complete experiment consists of many tests, and within a short time interval (usually a few seconds) after each test, the main control computer automatically The experimental data obtained directly by itself is transmitted to the computing control server (C-SERVER) through the high-speed, high-throughput S-NET and receives the data analysis results from the server.

In the behavioral electrophysiological experiment, the above hardware structure needs to be unified through related software according to the characteristics of the behavioral electrophysiological experiment. To this end, it is necessary to write a unified behavioral electrophysiological experiment framework software and install it on the computing control server and the main control computer, and on this basis, add different modules for different experimental contents for researchers to choose. The writing of the above-mentioned experimental framework software can be completed by those skilled in the art using familiar computer languages, such as C, C++, PASCAL, BASIC language, etc., according to the specific needs of the experiment.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figure 2, each behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit and the computing control server (C-SERVER, multi-core server or minicomputer) pass through a high-speed (above gigabit speed), high-throughput main control The local area network (S-NET) is connected; in addition, the calculation control server is also connected to a database server (D-SERVER) for storing experimental data and monitoring information through S-NET for large or long-term data access. According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, each behavioral electrophysiology experiment unit also includes a network monitoring camera, and the network monitoring camera can be connected to the computing control server through the main control local area network, so that the person in charge of the laboratory can monitor each experimental unit. Video Surveillance.

The computing control server includes many functional modules, such as data receiving module, parallelized data computing and analysis module, image receiving module and data transmission module, etc. Its functions are illustrated as follows:

Data receiving module: responsible for responding to the request of the main control computer in each experimental unit, receiving the experimental data sent by it and storing the experimental data in the memory of the calculation control server; at the same time, according to the calculation request of the main control computer, these requests are transmitted Parallelize the data calculation and analysis module, so that the data can be calculated and analyzed in time, and finally the results of the calculation and analysis are sent to the main control computer of each experimental unit. In order to let the laboratory leader understand the real-time progress of the experiment, the results of data analysis can be displayed synchronously on the display interface of the computing control server.

Parallel data calculation and analysis module: responsible for classifying and processing the received experimental data and calculation requests, and sending back the results after calculation and analysis through the data receiving module.

Image receiving and display module: responsible for receiving the image data of the network surveillance camera in the experimental unit, and displaying the experimental scene in the corresponding experimental unit in real time on the computer control server interface, so as to facilitate the laboratory leader to monitor the progress of the experiment in each experimental unit . These image data can be stored on the computing control server according to the needs.

Data transmission module: the task of this module is to transmit animal information, experimental data and (/or) video recordings of experimental scenes that need to be preserved for a long time to a safe place independent of the computer control server, including the above-mentioned database server, to prevent data from The calculation control server occupies a large amount of space, and also prevents data from being damaged due to some accidents on the calculation control server.

In addition, there are some other small modules, for example, the module that receives the temperature and humidity information in the experimental unit, etc., so that the information can be displayed on the computer control server interface for the reference of the laboratory leader.

Specific behavioral electrophysiological experiments are carried out in the experimental unit. The programmed task execution program (for example, controlling experimental equipment, giving audiovisual stimulation, collecting behavioral electrophysiological signals, etc.) is installed on the main control computer or working computer. The master computer generally contains a real-time control module of experimental equipment and a non-real-time data transmission (to C-SERVER) module; the working computer also has a real-time control module of experimental equipment and a non-real-time data return (to HOST) module. The real-time experiment control module is used to carry out behavior experiments and collect experimental data in real time, and the non-real-time data transmission module is used to transmit the collected information and experimental data to the calculation control server during the interval of real-time experimental tasks. After the main control computer and the working computer are started, time synchronization, equipment detection and equipment initialization should be performed based on the main control computer, and a communication relationship will also be established with the computing control server through S-NET.

The above-mentioned behavioral electrophysiological experiment system utilizes a three-dimensional organization method, and through various connection methods, including serial port direct connection and local area network, the accuracy, efficiency and supervision of behavioral electrophysiological experiments have been greatly improved, especially in This improvement is particularly evident when the experiment has high time requirements (for example, when it is necessary to distinguish signal behavior differences at the millisecond level).

In the traditional behavioral electrophysiological experiment system, as shown in Figure 3, only one computer (whether multi-core or not) is used to perform various tasks, including controlling various experimental equipment, collecting various behavioral electrophysiological signals, and performing signal analysis and processing. Therefore, in some experiments in which sound and color stimuli were performed while electrophysiological recordings were performed and behavioral video recordings were performed, some experimental conditions were slightly harsher, such as a slightly larger video size (for example, 640×480), and a slightly higher number of frames per second (for example, , greater than 30 frames per second), the real-time performance of the experiment cannot be guaranteed. In addition, when the computer collects data, if data analysis and calculations are required, the CPU will be overwhelmed with slightly more complicated calculations. However, with the behavioral electrophysiological experiment system provided by the present invention, the calculation control server can be used to obtain the calculated results in time after each test while the data is collected. The time spent is mainly the data transmission, the result Incoming and Computing controls the timing of server data analysis. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, after the CPU core number of the calculation control server exceeds 48 cores, for 20-channel EEG data recording, the above-mentioned multi-channel synchronization and correlation calculation can be completed within 10 seconds. The speed is more than 24 times the processing speed of ordinary computers (dual-core).

The invention relates to a method for performing behavioral electrophysiological experiments. The method involves using a multi-scale nested and three-dimensional computer network to connect experimental equipment, a main control computer, and a computing control computer through a local area network or a serial port. The servers are connected systematically, and under the control of the corresponding software system, a collaborative behavioral electrophysiological experiment system is formed to complete the behavioral electrophysiological experiment, including the timely delivery of stimulation signals, real-time collection of experimental data, online analysis of experimental data and Feedback, as well as secure storage of experimental data and precise monitoring of experimental progress. If necessary, the method also includes using the working computer in the behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit to further assist the main control computer to give stimulation, collect data and process signals, and use the database server to store the obtained experimental data, etc. Using the experimental method of behavioral electrophysiology can significantly improve the accuracy, efficiency and supervision of behavioral electrophysiology experiments.

Example

An electrophysiological experiment on the macaque motor cortex needs to record the trajectory of the limb movement of the macaque and the corresponding EEG signal of the cerebral cortex, in order to understand how the neurons of the cerebral cortex control the limb movement. The experimental process is as follows: After seeing the graphics on the monitor, the animal touches the graphics on the screen in a prescribed order. After judging that the animal’s touch behavior is correct, the computer controls the digital-to-analog conversion board (DA board) to open the solenoid valve switch, and gives the animal a drop of water. rewards. When the animal completes the whole behavioral task, the electrical pulse data of the cerebral cortex are read out from the analog-to-digital conversion board (AD board) and stored in the computer.

According to the present invention, the experimental system of design has used three computers to finish different work respectively: work computer A is used for displaying complicated figure, control water supply valve switch, the coordinate locus of recording animal limb movement etc.; Work computer B is used for collecting multiple channel EEG and EMG data of moving limbs; the main control computer C transmits the collected experimental data (EEG, EMG, and behavioral data, etc.) to the calculation control server and receives the calculation results of the server after a few seconds. The interface between the experimental equipment and the computer varies with specific equipment, but the main control computer needs to use different network cards and network segments to connect to the working computer and the computing control server respectively. Using this connection method of experimental equipment can greatly expand the number of channels for EEG signal acquisition, and the experimenter can also quickly (1 to 5 minutes, the time required is mainly to wait for the animal to complete a certain number of behavioral tasks, the actual calculation time) Within 30 seconds) to know whether the collected EEG signal is related to the animal's limb movement, if it is related, the experiment will continue, if not, the experimenter will move the brain electrode to another position in the brain and record it. This can greatly speed up the progress of the experiment and improve the efficiency of the experiment.

In addition, the experimental data is temporarily stored on the computer control server. For safety reasons, the computer control server is connected to the database server through another network card and network segment. According to needs, animal information, experimental data and experimental images will be transmitted to the database server for long-term storage.

Contrast experiment: If the traditional method is used, under the premise that the sampling frequency remains unchanged, in order to enable the data to be collected synchronously, the number of sampling channels should not be too many, the graphics to be displayed should not be too complicated, and the computer cannot be required to generate graphics temporarily , only a small amount of pre-generated pictures can be loaded into the computer memory for use before the experimental task starts. After each experimental task, if the same computer is required to perform data analysis and calculation, it usually takes 5 to 30 minutes due to the complexity of the calculation method (the required time is mainly used for data analysis and calculation). For more complex calculations, sometimes it takes about 1 hour. In addition, since the experimental data is stored on the local computer, once the computer breaks down or is attacked by a computer virus, the integrity of the data will be greatly threatened.

According to the disclosure and teaching of the above-mentioned specification, those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs can also make changes and modifications to the above-mentioned embodiment. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and described above, and some modifications and changes to the present invention should also fall within the protection scope of the claims of the present invention. In addition, although some specific terms and some orientation words are used in this specification, these terms and orientation words are only for convenience of description and do not constitute any limitation to the present invention.

Claims (5)

1. A behavioral electrophysiological experimental system, comprising: One or more behavioral electrophysiology experimental units, computing control servers, and database servers, wherein, The behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit includes a main control computer and controlled experimental equipment, and the main control computer controls the controlled experimental equipment to give the experimental animals stimulation signals, and collect and record the experimental animals in real time. Data, the experimental data includes behavioral information and electrophysiological experimental data, The behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit also includes one or more working computers, the main control computer controls the working computers through the local area network and/or serial port direct connection in the unit, and the working computers control the experiment. The device is used to give the experimental animal a stimulation signal, collect the experimental data of the experimental animal in real time and send the experimental data back to the main control computer, The calculation control server is connected to the main control computer through a main control local area network, receives the experimental data transmitted by the main control computer and performs analysis and calculation, and The database server is connected to the calculation control server through the main control local area network, and is used for storing data and information transmitted from the calculation control server. 2. The behavioral electrophysiological experiment system according to claim 1, wherein the behavioral electrophysiological experiment unit further comprises a network monitoring camera, and the network monitoring camera is connected to the computing control server through a main control local area network. 3. The behavioral electrophysiology experiment system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: The real-time experiment control module is installed on the main control computer and the working computer, and is responsible for controlling the experimental equipment to carry out behavioral experiments and collect the experimental data in real time, and transfer the collected experimental data between real-time experimental tasks. data is transmitted to the computing control server; The data receiving module is installed on the computing control server, responsible for responding to the request of the main control computer in each experimental unit, receiving the experimental data sent by it and storing the experimental data in the memory of the computing control server, Simultaneously according to its calculation request, these requests are transmitted to the parallelized data calculation and analysis module, so that the data is calculated and analyzed in time, and finally the results of the calculation and analysis are transmitted to the main control computer of each experimental unit; The parallelized data calculation and analysis module is installed on the calculation control server, has a variety of calculation components related to behavioral electrophysiology, and can call corresponding components to complete the calculation according to the request of the main control computer; and The data transmission module is installed on the computing control server and is responsible for transmitting the animal information to be stored for a long time, the experimental data and/or the video recording of the experimental scene to the database server. 4. behavior electrophysiological experiment system as claimed in claim 3, also comprises: An image receiving module, which is installed on the calculation control server, is responsible for receiving the image data collected by the network monitoring camera in the experimental unit and displays the corresponding data in the experimental unit in real time on the interface of the calculation control server. Experimental scene. 5. The behavioral electrophysiological experiment system according to claim 1, wherein the computing control server is a multi-core server or a minicomputer.