Clamp Stim Protocols

NeuroMatic Stimulus Protocols define what input/output channels of the DAQ device are to be used during data acquisition, as well as the timing, the output stimuli and online analysis. Stimulus Protocols are edited via the Stim Misc, Time, Ins/Outs and Pulse buttons.


Stimulus Select – use the drop-down menu at the top of the Clamp Tab to select the stimulus you wish to Preview or Record. Above, the stimulus Vstep has been selected. You can also use the drop-down menu to execute one of the various stimulus functions defined below.

Preview the currently selected stimulus. Acquired data will overwrite the first data wave (e.g. RecordA0) and will be displayed in a NeuroMatic Channel Graph.

Record the currently selected stimulus. Acquired data will be saved as waves numbered from 0 (e.g. RecordA0, RecordA1, RecordA2...) in a NeuroMatic Data Folder. The folder will also be saved to a file on a specified disk. During acquisition, data will be displayed in a NeuroMatic Channel Graph.

Note – make a File Note before clicking the Record button. The note will be saved in a Notes subfolder along with the acquired data.


Stimulus Functions

Functions which can be executed via the stimulus-select drop-down menu at the top of the Clamp Tab:

New – create a new stimulus protocol with default settings.

Copy the current stimulus protocol.

Rename the current stimulus protocol.

Retrieve a copy of a stimulus protocol that resides inside the current NeuroMatic Data Folder.

Open a stimulus protocol from a disk.

Save the current stimulus protocol to disk. If the stimulus protocol has already been saved, this option will update the existing file without a user prompt. Stimulus files are Igor binary files with extension “pxp”.

Save As – same as “Save” but with a prompt to enter a file name.

Save All stimulus protocols to a disk.

Close the current stimulus protocol.

Close All stimulus protocols.

Set Stim Path – set the directory on a disk where stimulus files are to be opened/saved. This path is saved in the Clamp configuration string StimPath, which can be set via the stimulus drop-down menu, or via Configurations.

Set Stim List – when the Clamp Tab first initializes its global variables, it will attempt to load the stimulus files that are listed in the Clamp configuration string OpenStimList. The directory of these stimulus files must be that defined by the Clamp configuration string StimPath. You can set OpenStimList using the stimulus drop-down menu, or via Configurations. Do not include the file extension in your list of names.


Stimulus Folders

All waves and variables associated with a stimulus protocol are saved in an Igor data folder. This folder has the same name as the stimulus protocol and resides in the NeuroMatic Stim Folder (root:NMStims). After selecting Record, a copy of the current stimulus folder is placed in the current NeuroMatic Data Folder along with your data. Hence, stimulus folders are saved to disk inside your data files for future reference. This is useful for instances when you make fine-tune adjustments to your stimulus protocol from recording to recording. The adjustements you make will be saved along with each recording.

After a NeuroMatic data file has been opened from a disk, the stimulus folder that resides inside can be retrieved via the Retrieve menu option defined above, or key parameters can be viewed via various NeuroMatic menu options (see Igor Menu/NeuroMatic/Clamp Stim).