Adaptively optimizing experiments can significantly reduce the number of trials needed to characterize neural responses using parametric statistical models. However, the potential for these methods has been limited to date by severe computational challenges: choosing the stimulus which will provide the most information about the (typically high-dimensional) model parameters requires evaluating a high-dimensional integration and optimization in near-real time. Here we present a fast algorithm for choosing the optimal (most informative) stimulus based on a Fisher approximation of the Shannon information and specialized numerical linear algebra techniques. This algorithm requires only low-rank matrix manipulations and a one-dimensional linesearch to choose the stimulus and is therefore efficient even for high-dimensional stimulus and parameter spaces; for example, we require just 15 milliseconds on a desktop computer to optimize a 100-dimensional stimulus. Our algorithm therefore makes real-time adaptive experimental design feasible. Simulation results show that model parameters can be estimated much more efficiently using these adaptive techniques than by using random (nonadaptive) stimuli. Finally, we generalize the algorithm to efficiently handle both fast adaptation due to spike-history effects and slow, non-systematic drifts in the model parameters.
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