Optimal feature subset selection for neuron spike sorting using the genetic algorithm

It is crucial for a neuron spike sorting algorithm to cluster data from different neurons efficiently. In this study, the search capability of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is exploited for identifying the optimal feature subset for neuron spike sorting with a clustering algorithm. Two important objectives of the optimization process are considered: to reduce the number of features and increase the clustering performance. Specifically, we employ a binary GA with the silhouette evaluation criterion as the fitness function for neuron spike sorting using the Super-Paramagnetic Clustering (SPC) algorithm. The clustering results of SPC with and without the GA-based feature selector are evaluated using benchmark synthetic neuron spike data sets. The outcome indicates the usefulness of the GA in identifying a smaller feature set with improved clustering performance.