Lesson #1: The Structure of NWB Datasets

NWB datasets can be found in a few different places. Throughout this online textbook, we’ll introduce two primary ways to obtain and work with NWB datasets: through DANDI & PyNWB and through the Allen Institute SDK. In this lesson, we’ll show you how to download a sample dataset via DANDI and navigate the NWB structure.

Learning objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Explain the three common features of datasets: metadata, raw data, and processed data

• Identify and implement multiple ways to obtain a NWB dataset via DANDI

• Explore the metadata contained in a typical Dandiset

• Use an interactive widget for a big picture view of a Dandiset

In this lesson, we’ll dig into a couple of NWB datasets that use extracellular recording to simultaneously record from many neurons. First, let’s get the data.