000000338 001__ 338 000000338 005__ 20260305081544.0 000000338 0247_ $$2DOI$$a10.6083/M4610X8S 000000338 037__ $$aETD 000000338 245__ $$aThe role of timing in shaping information processing in neural systems 000000338 260__ $$bOregon Health and Science University 000000338 269__ $$a2008 000000338 336__ $$aDissertation 000000338 502__ $$bPh.D. 000000338 502__ $$gBiomedical Engineering 000000338 520__ $$aBiological sensory systems encode environmental information through large populations of receptors whose activity reaches the brain as parallel spike trains. Understanding how these signals are transformed and which stimulus features are most meaningful to the organism is a central challenge in neuroscience. This dissertation illustrates a comprehensive, data‑driven framework for analyzing relationships between stimuli and their neural representations, complementing traditional hypothesis‑driven approaches. Stimulus sets and neural responses are characterized either categorically or within continuous similarity spaces, and analytical methods are adapted or developed to quantify input–output relationships. Across the datasets examined, stimulus timing consistently emerged as a key feature governing neural encoding. 000000338 540__ $$fCC BY 000000338 542__ $$fIn copyright - single owner 000000338 650__ $$aNervous System$$022807 000000338 650__ $$aInformation Storage and Retrieval$$028998 000000338 6531_ $$aimage segmentation 000000338 6531_ $$aneural stimulation 000000338 6531_ $$abiophysical model 000000338 6531_ $$aresponse attenuation 000000338 691__ $$aSchool of Medicine$$041369 000000338 692__ $$aDepartment of Science and Engineering$$041447 000000338 7001_ $$aIancu, Ovidiu$$uOregon Health and Science University$$041354 000000338 7201_ $$aRoberts, Patrick$$uOregon Health and Science University$$041354$$7Personal$$eAdvisor 000000338 8564_ $$9b9baa6ca-9fd4-413f-9616-4f7d039d2765$$s5295820$$uhttps://digitalcollections.ohsu.edu/record/338/files/339_etd.pdf$$ePublic$$263848a56156df60156c3edebbca9c3aa$$31 000000338 905__ $$a/rest/prod/wp/98/8j/85/wp988j859 000000338 909CO $$ooai:digitalcollections.ohsu.edu:338$$pstudent-work 000000338 956__ $$aGet Accessible Copy$$uhttps://ohsu.libwizard.com/f/requestaccessibledocument 000000338 980__ $$aTheses and Dissertations