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@INPROCEEDINGS{Khler:1027723,
author = {Köhler, Cristiano and Grün, Sonja and Denker, Michael},
title = {{S}emantically-enriched description of electrophysiology
data analysis workflows},
reportid = {FZJ-2024-04031},
year = {2024},
abstract = {Extracellular electrophysiology is a common experimental
technique to investigate brain function. Also, the outcome
of brain simulations on the neural network level can be
related to electrophysiological measures obtained from such
experiments. The analysis of electrophysiology data requires
specific methods of varying complexity, which are frequently
implemented in computational workflows that take the form of
a series of scripts that read input datasets and produce
result files [1]. There are challenges to describe the
processes throughout the workflow: (i) parameters are often
selected iteratively, and the subsequent results depend on
the details of the iterations; (ii) finding result files in
a collection is difficult, as several parameters may be
stored in a non machine-readable format inside files or
using non-standardized names; (iii) there are several
variations of analysis methods that can be applied to the
data with similar purposes (e.g., different algorithms to
compute the power spectral density from local field
potentials); (iv) an analysis method can be implemented by
different software codes (e.g., toolboxes such as Elephant
[2] or MNE [3]; see also [4]) that adopt different names for
the functions and their parameters. In the end, this
produces a scenario where it is difficult to find,
understand, and compare analysis results, especially in
collaborative environments where large results sets are
available in shared repositories. To overcome those
challenges, we developed a framework to generate
machine-readable descriptions of the workflow execution that
are enriched with the relevant semantic information. The
details of the inputs, outputs, and parameters of the
functions called within the workflow scripts are captured
with minimal user intervention using the Alpaca (Automatic
Lightweight Provenance Capture; $RRID:SCR_023739)$ [5]
toolbox. This produces a detailed record of the atomic steps
used to generate an analysis result. The provenance
information is enriched with annotations using the
Neuroelectrophysiology Analysis Ontology (NEAO), which we
developed as a unified vocabulary to standardize the
descriptions of the methods involved in the analysis of
extracellular electrophysiology data. We show real-world
examples where the framework was used to generate
machine-actionable descriptions of different analyses of an
electrophysiology dataset and highlight how it is possible
to query information, facilitating finding and obtaining
insights on the results (e.g., using knowledge graphs). In
the end, this approach improves the analysis workflow by
making the details of the results known and standardizing
their description. Ultimately, we discuss how this
methodology can be applied more generally to computational
workflows (e.g., in network simulation or AI applications)
to help representing the results according to the FAIR
principles [6]. REFERENCES [1] M. Denker and S. Grün, LNCS,
10087, 58, 2016. [2] M. Denker et al., Neuroinformatics
2018, P19, 2018. [3] A. Gramfort et al., Front. Neurosci.,
7, 267, 2013. [4] V. A. Unakafova and A. Gail, Front.
Neuroinform., 13, 57, 2019. [5] C. A. Köhler et al., arXiv,
2311.09672, 2023. [6] M. D. Wilkinson et al., Sci. Data, 3,
160018, 2016.},
month = {Jun},
date = {2024-06-03},
organization = {International Conference on
Neuromorphic Computing and Engineering,
Aachen (Germany), 3 Jun 2024 - 6 Jun
2024},
subtyp = {After Call},
cin = {IAS-6 / INM-10},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)IAS-6-20130828 / I:(DE-Juel1)INM-10-20170113},
pnm = {5235 - Digitization of Neuroscience and User-Community
Building (POF4-523) / 5231 - Neuroscientific Foundations
(POF4-523) / HDS LEE - Helmholtz School for Data Science in
Life, Earth and Energy (HDS LEE) (HDS-LEE-20190612) / HBP
SGA2 - Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 2
(785907) / HBP SGA3 - Human Brain Project Specific Grant
Agreement 3 (945539) / EBRAINS 2.0 - EBRAINS 2.0: A Research
Infrastructure to Advance Neuroscience and Brain Health
(101147319) / Algorithms of Adaptive Behavior and their
Neuronal Implementation in Health and Disease
(iBehave-20220812)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5235 / G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5231 /
G:(DE-Juel1)HDS-LEE-20190612 / G:(EU-Grant)785907 /
G:(EU-Grant)945539 / G:(EU-Grant)101147319 /
G:(DE-Juel-1)iBehave-20220812},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)24},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1027723},
}