2025 Hyper Recent •CC0 1.0 Universal

This work is dedicated to the public domain. No rights reserved.

Access Preprint From Server
September 8th, 2025
Version: 1
Vanderbilt University
neuroscience
bioRxiv

NERV: A Comprehensive Framework for Rapid, Reproducible, and Hardware-Synchronized Neuroscience Experiment Design and Execution

Coutray, K.Open in Google Scholar•Constantinidis, C.Open in Google Scholar

Background: Behavioral neuroscience experiments require precise stimulus control, millisecond timing, hardware integration, and robust data provenance. Increasing use of 3D environments and multimodal recordings adds challenges for development, accessibility, and reproducibility. Fragmented tools often separate presentation, synchronization, and logging, leading to inefficiencies. New Method: The Neuroscience Experimental Runtime by Vanderbilt (NERV) is a Unity-based framework that unifies experiment design, execution, and data logging. It enables rapid, no-code prototyping by automating scene and script generation, event timing, state management, hardware-synchronized data acquisition, and archival of code and experimental configurations. The modular, open-source framework implements a \"low floor, high ceiling\" design that lowers barriers for non-programmers while remaining extensible for advanced customization. Results: Across 500 trials, Unity-to-TTL delay was 2.10 +/- 1.21 ms, TTL-to-photodiode delay was 28.93 +/- 0.76 ms, and Unity-to-screen delay was 31.04 +/- 1.41 ms. These results confirm stable millisecond precision and frame-locked timing, enabling reliable alignment of neural, behavioral, and visual events. Comparison with existing methods: Existing frameworks involve trade-offs. Some achieve precise timing but require advanced coding, while others improve accessibility but struggle with hardware or 3D graphics. Commercial platforms offer polish yet remain costly, closed-source, and inflexible. NERV combines millisecond precision, modular open-source design, and provenance in a single platform, reducing workflow fragmentation and enabling reproducible, scalable experiments. Conclusion: NERV is an accessible yet extensible framework that unites rapid development, robust data provenance, and millisecond precision. It accelerates development, ensures reproducibility, and establishes a scalable foundation for next-generation neuroscience research.

Similar Papers

bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
Developmental and Stress-Induced Effects on 5-HT3R-Expressing Interneurons within Auditory Cortex
Early life stress (ELS) is a well-known predictor of neuropsychiatric disease and contributes to the development of sensory processing deficits that persist throughout life. Organisms are particularly susceptible to the deleterious effects of stress during critical periods, when neuroplasticity is heightened, and initial representations of the sensory environment are mapped to cortex. When ELS is ...
Moore, J. T.
•
Sunthimer, M. J.
•
White, E.
•
Mellott, J. G.
•
Rosen, M. J.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
PIB: Parallel ion beam etching of sections collected on wafer for ultra large-scale connectomics
We have developed a parallel ion beam etching device enabling simultaneous 20 nm thickness reduction for hundreds of biological sections, which could be collected on a whole 4-inch wafer. Through cyclic scanning electron microscopy imaging and ion beam thinning, it is trustworthy and efficient to obtain three-dimensional volume with high axial resolution for millimeter-size samples compared to con...
Ma, H.
•
Lv, Y.
•
Wang, M.
•
Zhao, Z.
...•
Han, H.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
Asymmetric cortical projections to striatal direct and indirect pathways distinctly control actions
The striatal direct and indirect pathways constitute the core for basal ganglia function in action control. Although both striatal D1- and D2-spiny projection neurons (SPNs) receive excitatory inputs from the cerebral cortex, whether or not they share inputs from the same cortical neurons, and how pathway-specific corticostriatal projections control behavior remain largely unknown. Here using a G-...
Klug, J. R.
•
Yan, X.
•
Hoffman, H.
•
Engelhardt, M. D.
...•
Jin, X.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
Saturation, Task Error, and Feedback Timing Shape Early Implicit Adaptation
Motor adaptation is essential for maintaining coordination and precision in daily activities. Implicit motor adaptation - adaptation that occurs without conscious awareness - is thought to be primarily driven by sensory prediction errors. Here, we investigated how rapidly these unconscious changes in reaching behavior emerge as a function of error magnitude and the availability of task error signa...
Nabaee-Tabriz, Z.
•
Rahimpoor-Marnani, P.
•
Khan, A.
•
Bassi, K.
...•
Henriques, D. Y. P.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
Human-specific features of the cerebellum and ZP2-regulated synapse development
Understanding the unique features of the human brain compared to non-human primates has long intrigued humankind. The cerebellum refines motor coordination and cognitive functions, contributing to the evolutionary development of human adaptability and dexterity. To identify shared and divergent features across primates, we conducted single-nucleus transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility profili...
Kim, S.-K.
•
Cherskov, A.
•
Sindhwani, A.
•
Choi, S.-H.
...•
Sanders, S. J
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
Visual performance fields in Saccadic Suppression of Image Displacement
Visual perception is not homogeneous throughout the visual field. Performance is generally better along the horizontal meridian compared to the vertical meridian, and in the lower compared to the upper visual field. These asymmetries in visual performance are reflected in structural asymmetries in early visual cortex. When exploring a visual scene, eye movements occur continuously, with visual per...
Timmerman, R.
•
Buonocore, A.
•
Fracasso, A.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
ALCOHOL AUGMENTS SPONTANEOUS GABAERGIC TRANSMISSION AND ACTION POTENTIAL FIRING IN IMMATURE MURINE CEREBELLAR GOLGI CELLS, LEADING TO ENHANCED INHIBITORY INPUT ONTO CEREBELLAR GRANULE CELLS
Golgi cells (GoCs) are cerebellar inhibitory interneurons that provide both phasic and tonic GABAergic input to cerebellar granule cells. They receive inhibitory control from Lugaro cells, other GoCs, and cerebellar nuclear inhibitory neurons via GABAergic and glycinergic inputs. Although fetal alcohol exposure is known to impair cerebellar function, its impact on developing GoC physiology remains...
Jotty-Arroyo, K.
•
Iturralde-Carrillo, A.
•
Paffett, M.
•
Mancero-Montalvo, R.
•
Valenzuela, C. F.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
Layer-specific glutamatergic inputs and Parvalbumin interneurons modulate early life stress induced alterations in prefrontal glutamate release during fear conditioning in pre-adolescent rats
Exposure to early life stress (ELS) can exert long-lasting impacts on emotional regulation. The corticolimbic system including the basolateral amygdala (BLA), ventral hippocampus (vHIP), and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a key role in fear learning. Using the limited bedding paradigm (LB), we examined the functional consequences of ELS on excitatory and inhibitory tone in the prelimbic...
Song, J.
•
Younus, M.
•
Long, H.
•
Wong, T.
•
Walker, C.-D.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
A common cross-species atlas of cortical gray matter
Comparative neuroscience requires a framework that enables consistent anatomical comparison across species with widely differing brain size, folding, and specialization. We introduce a cross-species hierarchical atlas spanning rodents, nonhuman primates, and humans, built upon population-averaged minimal deformation templates (MDTs) to ensure anatomically consistent alignment. The atlas defines ho...
Venkadesh, S.
•
Tian, Y.
•
Linn, W.-J.
•
Martinez, J. B.
...•
Yeh, F.-c.
bioRxiv
Tue Sep 09 2025
Long-Term Effects of Working Memory Retrieval From Prioritized and Deprioritized States
Which factors determine whether information temporarily held in working memory (WM) can later be remembered from long-term memory (LTM)? Previous work has shown that retrieving (''testing'') memories from LTM can benefit their future LTM recall. Here, we examined the extent to which a benefit for subsequent LTM may also occur after retrieval from WM, depending on whether the WM contents were retri...
Born, F.
•
Spitzer, B.