Experanto data format

The Experanto data format is designed to handle individual experiments, each of which can include multiple modalities. Currently, supported modalities include:

• Screen (e.g., visual stimuli presentation)

• Responses (e.g., recorded subject neural responses)

• Behaviors (e.g., treadmill movement, eye tracking data)

Each modality has its own dedicated folder containing the relevant data and metadata.

File structure

A typical experiment follows this structured hierarchy:

experiment/
  ├── screen/
  │   ├── data/
  │   │   ├── 00000.npy
  │   │   ├── 00001.mp4
  │   │   ├── ...
  │   │   ├── means.npy
  │   │   ├── std.npy
  │   ├── meta/
  │   │   ├── 00000.yml
  │   │   ├── 00001.yml
  │   │   ├── ...
  │   ├── meta.yml
  │   ├── timestamps.npy
  ├── responses/
  │   ├── data.mem
  │   ├── meta.yml
  │   ├── meta/
  │   │   ├── means.npy
  │   │   ├── std.npy
  ├── behaviors/ (similar structure to responses)

Generating sample data

A sample dataset for testing can be generated using the allen_exporter library, which provides neurological experiment data on mice in the Experanto format.

The allen_exporter repository contains tools to generate datasets that include all the modalities mentioned above.

For more details, visit the repository and follow the installation and usage instructions.