Population vector

In neuroscience, a population vector is the sum of the preferred directions of a population of neurons, weighted by the respective spike counts.

The formula for computing the (normalized) population vector, [math]\displaystyle{ F }[/math], takes the following form:

[math]\displaystyle{ F = \frac{\sum_j m_j F_j}{\sum_j m_j} }[/math]

Where [math]\displaystyle{ m_j }[/math] is the activity of cell [math]\displaystyle{ j }[/math], and [math]\displaystyle{ F_j }[/math] is the preferred input for cell [math]\displaystyle{ j }[/math].

Note that the vector [math]\displaystyle{ F }[/math] encodes the input direction, [math]\displaystyle{ F_j }[/math], in terms of the activation of a population of neurons.