SimSignals

Simulates three sources of activity with user-defined signal properties in order to approximate event-related brain dynamics.

"SimSignals" software package was developed so that novice and expert users could input basic signal parameters (e.g., multiple frequencies, amplitudes, durations, phase interactions, and phase-amplitude couplings) in order to simulate signals that approximate event-related electromagnetic brain activity. A major objective for developing this software was to create software to simulate interacting signals that could be used to verify functional connectivity (FC) analyses, specifically phase-locking value (PLV) and phase-lag index (PLI) algorithms. SimSignals simulates three sources with various parameters that can be defined by users to change amplitude and phase interactions relative to event onsets over several event trials. Event-related amplitude supplements (ERAS) and depressions (ERAD) with specific frequencies, durations, and windowing functions can be set. Users can also define event-related synchronizations (ERS) or desynchronizations (ERD) by setting PLV and PLI targets for pre-event and post-event intervals. Random noise of various types can also be added to the final signals in order to adjust signal-to-noise ratios. The simulated signals could be used to verify users’ analysis pipelines by comparing analyzed results to the simulated ground truth signals. Although this software was developed for simulating electromagnetic brain signals, it is a straightforward signal generator that could be used in other fields that would benefit from simulations of three interacting signals.