Event definitions for Fear Conditioning experiments

Fear conditioning experiments involve conditioned stimuli (CS) and unconditioned aversive stimuli (US) events. CS that are reinforced by a following US trial are typically referred to as CS+ while CS that are not reinforced are typically referred to as CS-.

Every event in the experiment MUST follow this naming pattern: <event_type><ID><polarity>

Where:

• event_type is either CS or US

• ID is a numeric identifier for the stimulus.

• polarity is:

  • p for positive/reinforced (CS+)

  • m for negative/non-reinforced (CS-)

For example, in an experiment with one CS+, one CS-, and one US, the valid event names would be: CS1p, CS2m, US

An example events.tsv file would look like this

onset       duration        event_type      stimulus_name   task_name
0.0         0.0             block_start     n/a             habituation
10.0        8.0             CS1m            diamond         habituation
25.0        8.0             CS2p            square          habituation
40.0        8.0             CS1m            diamond         habituation
50.0        0.0             block_end       n/a             habituation
53.0        0.0             block_start     n/a             acquisition
55.0        8.0             CS2p            square          acquisition
62.5        0.5             US              shock           acquisition
70.0        8.0             CS1m            diamond         acquisition
. . .