NWB for MATLAB

MatNWB is a MATLAB package for working with Neurodata Without Borders (NWB) files—a standardized format for neurophysiology data. The package provides a high‑level interface for reading and writing NWB files in MATLAB and includes tutorial Live Scripts that show you how to read existing NWB files or convert your own data to NWB.

New to NWB? Learn more about the format itself from these resources:

• NWB Overview Introduction: Entry point providing a high-level and general overview of the NWB format

• NWB Format Specification: Detailed overview of the NWB format and the neurodata type specifications that make up the format.

For a quick introduction to MatNWB, go to the Overview page. If you immediately want to see how to read or write files, take a look at the Quickstart tutorial.

For more in-depth examples of how to create NWB files, we recommend you to start with the Introduction tutorial and then move on to one or more of the domain-focused tutorials:

• Behavior Data

• Extracellular Electrophysiology 🎬

• Intracellular Electrophysiology

• Image Data

• Optogenetics

• Calcium Imaging 🎬

To explore the growing world of open-source neuroscience data stored in the NWB format, check out the Read from Dandihub tutorial.

Looking for a specific topic which has not been mentioned? Check out the full table of contents below:

Get Started

• Overview
• Installation
• Quickstart: Read and write NWB files

Tutorials

• General Tutorials
  • Getting Started with MatNWB
  • Reading NWB Files with MatNWB
  • Reading NWB Files with MatNWB on DandiHub
  • Basic Usage of MatNWB
  • Mapping Dimensions without DataPipes
  • Mapping Dimensions with DataPipes
  • Converting Trials to NWB Format
  • Using Dynamic Tables in MatNWB
  • Working with Scratch Space in MatNWB
• Domain-Specific Tutorials
  • Behavior Data
  • Extracellular Electrophysiology 🎬
  • Intracellular Electrophysiology
  • Image Data
  • Optogenetics
  • Calcium Imaging 🎬
• Advanced I/O
  • Advanced Writing Using DataPipes 🎬
  • Implementing Dynamically Loaded Filters
  • Reading NWB Files from Remote Locations

How-tos

• Use Extensions
  • Generating Extension API
  • Installing Published Extensions
• Optimize Storage
  • Use compression profiles

Concepts

• Dimension Ordering in MatNWB
  • Data Dimensions
• Reading NWB Files
  • Working with the NwbFile Object
  • The Dynamic Table Type
  • Utility Types in MatNWB
  • Schemas and Class Generation
  • Troubleshooting File Reads in MatNWB
• Creating NWB Files
  • Understanding the NwbFile Object
  • Storage Backends
  • Performance Optimization
• Neurodata Extensions
  • Generating Extension API
  • Installing Published Extensions

MatNWB Reference

• MatNWB Functions
• Core Neurodata Types
• HDMF-Common Data Types
• HDMF-Experimental Data Types

For Developers

• Contribution Guidelines
• Documentation
  • Writing a Properly Documented MATLAB Docstring
• How to Create a New Release

Cite MatNWB

If MatNWB contributes to your work, please see Citing MatNWB.