A Session is one experimental occasion — a recording day, an imaging run,
a behavioural session. The Session itself holds little: it is the
container that the modules hang off, and those modules describe what
actually happened.
Session modules
-
Behaviors: what the subject was doing, described by a Behavioral assay and the Setup it ran on.
-
Data acquisition: the recorded streams — electrophysiology, imaging, video, audio — with their
file and acquisition parameters.
-
Manipulations: stimuli or perturbations delivered during the session, with their parameters.
-
Epochs: named intervals within the session. The other three modules can be linked to epochs,
which is how a session gets a timeline rather than just a list.
Each module has its own tab above. Add the modules that apply; a session with
no modules records that something happened but not what.
Subject sessions and specimen sessions
A Session is either a subject session — in-vivo work on one
or more Subjects — or a specimen session, working on Specimen
sets ex-vivo. The choice is made when the session is created and
cannot be changed afterwards: the change form shows the type
but will not let you switch it.
It decides more than a label. A subject session offers the Subjects field and
its modules link to the Experimental interfaces installed on those subjects;
a specimen session offers Specimen sets and its modules link to the
interfaces installed on those sets. Choosing wrongly means starting the
session again, so set it correctly at creation.
Session fields
The add form asks for the name, session type, projects, and the
subjects or specimen sets involved. Select Create and
continue to add timing, description, storage, and the modules.
-
Status
Choice
-
Performed is the default and means the session took place. Planned means it is prepared ahead of time: nothing in it has been recorded, and its data acquisitions, manipulations, behaviors and epochs are plans too. The page shows an orange pill beside the title; mark it as performed from the header once it has taken place. Planned sessions are left out of counts, public pages and API listings unless asked for.
-
Name
Required
Text
-
How the session is identified in lists and selectors. Many
labs use a convention combining the subject and the date;
whatever you choose, make it sortable and unambiguous,
because sessions accumulate quickly. Names are unique
across all of BrainSTEM, not just within your own records,
so a name another lab has already used will be refused.
This is why a date alone will not do: build the name from
the subject and the date so it is distinct by
construction.
-
Session type
Required · fixed after creation
Choice
-
Subject or specimen, as described above. Shown read-only on the
change form.
-
Projects
Required
Multiple selections
-
The projects this session belongs to. Only projects where you
are at least a Contributor are offered, and these supply the
permission context for the session and everything in it.
-
Subjects
Subject sessions
Multiple selections
-
The subjects that took part. This is what the modules draw on:
a Data acquisition or Manipulation can only link to
Experimental interfaces installed on a subject listed here.
-
Specimen sets
Specimen sessions
Multiple selections
-
The specimen sets worked on. This replaces Subjects on a
specimen session and, likewise, is what the modules' interface
links draw on.
-
Date and time
Date and time
-
When the session started. Epoch times are relative to this, so
set it when you use epochs.
-
Description
Rich text
-
What this session was for and anything unusual about it. The
modules record the parameters; this records the intent.
-
Data storage
Multiple selections
-
Where this session's data are held. Together with the storage
name below, this is what connects the record to actual files.
-
Name used in storage
Text
-
The session's directory or dataset name when it differs from
the name above.
-
Tags
Multiple selections
-
Free labels for filtering. Tags are shared across BrainSTEM; the
suggestions offered are the tags already used in your projects.
-
Repository links / Extra content
Structured details
-
External locations for this session's data, and any additional
key/value details the standard fields do not cover.
Permissions
A Session inherits its access from the Projects it belongs to. You need
change access through at least one of them to add or edit it, and the same
applies to its behaviors, acquisitions, manipulations, and epochs. Subject and
specimen-set selectors are separately scoped to what you may use.
API access
Sessions can be read and written through
/api/private/stem/session/. The corresponding public route is
read-only. The modules are separate collections that reference the session
rather than nested inside it.
Session documentation
Behaviors
A Behavior records one behavioral assay actually performed, with
particular subjects, on a particular rig, during one Session. It is the
link between the standardized task description and the session in which it
happened, so it has no type of its own — the assay supplies that.
Assay, setup, and occurrence
-
Behavioral category and paradigm are
shared taxonomy: the broad domain and the standardized task.
-
Behavioral assay is your lab's implementation of that
task — the method as you run it.
-
Setup type and Setup describe the class
of apparatus and your concrete rig.
-
Behavior is one occurrence: this assay, on this setup,
with these subjects, in this session.
Create the Behavioral assay and the Setup first — a Behavior can only point at
ones that already exist and that you can use. Because the assay and setup are
reached through their groups while the Behavior belongs to the session's
projects, both have to be available to you in that context.
Behavior fields
-
Session
Required
Single selection
-
The session during which the behavior was run. The choices are
limited to sessions in projects where you can make changes, and
the session supplies this entry's permission context.
-
Subjects
Required
Multiple selections
-
Every subject that took part. The choices come from the
session's own subjects, so add a subject to the session first
if it is missing here. Select all participants rather than
creating one Behavior per animal, unless they genuinely ran
separately.
-
Setup
Required
Single selection
-
The physical rig the behavior ran on. Only setups you can
change are offered. Its setup type is shown beside the field so
you can check the rig suits the assay.
-
Behavioral assay
Required
Single selection
-
The lab method performed. Only assays you can change are
offered. This is what carries the task definition — the
Behavior itself stores no task parameters.
-
Order
Number
-
Where this behavior appears among the session's entries. Use it
when the sequence within the session matters; it does not imply
a start time.
-
Notes
Text · 500 characters
-
What was specific to this occurrence: deviations from the
assay, technical problems, or notable outcomes. Anything that
repeats every run belongs on the Behavioral assay instead.
Permissions
A Behavior inherits its access through the projects associated with its
Session. You need change access through at least one of those projects to add
or edit it. The subject, setup, and assay selectors are separately restricted
to entries you may use.
API access
Behaviors can be read and written through
/api/private/modules/behavior/. The corresponding public route
is read-only. A Behavior stores no structured detail of its own; its task
definition lives on the linked Behavioral assay.
Behavior documentation
Data acquisition
A Data acquisition describes one recording stream captured during a
Session. Each Data acquisition is one stream. Use separate entries when
streams have different acquisition methods or their own file, channel, or
timing details, even when they were recorded simultaneously.
Linking an acquisition to what produced it
The Session is the required parent and supplies the project
and time context.
Experimental interfaces are the link to what produced the
signal: they identify the probe, fiber, lens, sensor, or other target-facing
interface the signal came through, and they keep the order in which you
select them. At least one is required. The Procedure that installed an
interface is reached through the interface itself, so the acquisition no
longer links to Procedures directly. Equipment identifies
the reusable instruments in the Setup that performed the acquisition —
amplifiers, cameras, microscopes, acquisition systems. Interfaces are what
touches the target; Equipment is the apparatus around it.
Acquisition types
The selected type controls the structured fields under Data. No type
has required detail fields, so record what you know. Types fall into a
few detail shapes: channel-based types ask for channels, samples, and
sampling rate; frame-based types ask for resolution, frame count, and
frame rate; light-based imaging types add excitation wavelength and
laser power. The descriptions below follow the same groups and order as
the Type dropdown.
Audio and Behavior Tracking
Audio recordings and video or tracking data that capture the subject's sounds and behavior.
-
Audio:
A recorded sound signal, such as vocalizations or an acoustic monitor. Use this for the audio signal itself; a sound used as a stimulus is a Manipulation.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, bit depth, codec, channels, samples, and sampling rate.
-
Behavioral Tracking:
Derived or processed tracking data: positions, markers, key points or poses produced by a tracking system such as an OptiTrack motion-capture rig or a pose-estimation pipeline. Use this when the stored stream is the processed points; the raw footage is Video tracking.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, resolution, and frame rate.
-
Video Tracking:
Raw video recorded to track a subject's movements or behavior. Use this when the video itself is the stored data; processed points or trajectories derived from it are Behavioral tracking.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, resolution, and frame rate.
Electrophysiology
Recordings of electrical activity, from scalp EEG and peripheral nerve signals to extracellular and intracellular recordings of neurons.
-
Electroencephalography (EEG):
Large-scale electrical activity recorded from electrodes on or beneath the skull rather than from within the tissue. Also use this type for ECoG surface arrays, or Extracellular Electrophysiology when a dense array is recorded on a probe system with electrode groups and channel tags.
Structured fields: file name, format, data type, channels, samples, sampling rate, least significant bit, electrode groups, and channel tags.
-
Electroneurogram (ENG):
Electrical activity recorded from a peripheral nerve, typically through a nerve cuff or hook electrode.
Structured fields: as for EEG.
-
Extracellular Electrophysiology:
Spiking and field activity recorded outside cells with a probe, tetrode, or wire electrode. This is the usual choice for silicon-probe and tetrode recordings.
Structured fields: as for EEG, including electrode groups and channel tags for probe layout.
-
Intracellular Electrophysiology:
Membrane potential or current recorded from inside a single cell, as in whole-cell patch or sharp-electrode recordings.
Structured fields: file name, format, data type, channels, samples, sampling rate, and least significant bit.
Optical Imaging
Fluorescence and optical recordings, from fiber photometry and miniscopes to confocal, light field and one-, two- and three-photon microscopy.
-
Confocal Microscopy:
Imaging that rejects out-of-focus light with a pinhole to produce optical sections.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, resolution, frame count, frame rate, laser power, and excitation wavelength.
-
Fiber Photometry:
Bulk fluorescence collected through an implanted optical fiber. It yields a population signal rather than an image, so it has no resolution fields.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, frame rate, laser power, and excitation wavelength.
-
Light Field Microscopy:
Imaging that captures the light field in one shot so a volume can be reconstructed without scanning. Choose it for volumetric single-shot acquisition rather than plane-by-plane imaging.
Structured fields: as for Confocal Microscopy.
-
Miniscope Microscopy:
Imaging through a head-mounted miniature microscope in a freely moving subject, usually above a GRIN lens.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, resolution, frame rate, laser power, and imaging depth.
-
Single-Photon Microscopy:
Widefield or epifluorescence imaging using single-photon excitation. Use this for conventional widefield calcium imaging.
Structured fields: as for Confocal Microscopy.
-
Three-Photon Microscopy:
Multiphoton imaging using three-photon excitation for greater depth and reduced background than two-photon imaging.
Structured fields: as for Confocal Microscopy.
-
Two-Photon Microscopy:
Multiphoton imaging using two-photon excitation, the common choice for in-vivo cellular-resolution imaging.
Structured fields: as for Confocal Microscopy.
Magnetic and Functional Imaging
Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography.
-
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI):
MRI acquired as a time series to follow activity-related signal changes. Use plain MRI for structural scans.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, resolution, frame rate, laser power, and imaging depth.
-
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI):
Structural or anatomical magnetic resonance imaging.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, resolution, frame rate, magnetic field strength, and imaging depth.
-
Magnetoencephalography (MEG):
Magnetic fields produced by neural activity, recorded outside the head.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, resolution, frame rate, laser power, and imaging depth.
Tomography and Ultrasound
Tomographic and ultrasound imaging, including CT, PET, SPECT, optical coherence tomography and functional ultrasound.
-
Computed Tomography (CT):
X-ray tomography, typically for skeletal or implant anatomy and implant verification.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, frame count, resolution, frame rate, laser power, and imaging depth.
-
Functional Ultrasound Imaging (fUS):
Ultrasound imaging of cerebral blood volume as an activity proxy.
Structured fields: as for CT.
-
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT):
Interferometric depth-resolved optical imaging of tissue microstructure.
Structured fields: file name, format, compression, resolution, frame count, frame rate, center wavelength, and bandwidth.
-
Positron Emission Tomography (PET):
Imaging of an injected radiotracer's distribution, used for metabolic and receptor mapping.
Structured fields: as for CT.
-
Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT):
Gamma-emitting radiotracer tomography. It is distinct from PET in tracer and detector, not in what the row records.
Structured fields: as for CT.
General and Time-Series Data
Sampled signals that no more specific acquisition type covers, such as analog inputs and sensor streams.
-
General time-series:
Use this catch-all for a sampled signal that no specific method above describes, such as a temperature, force, or auxiliary sensor trace. Describe the signal and its source in Notes, because the type name alone will not tell another user what was recorded.
Structured fields: file name, format, data type, channels, samples, sampling rate, least significant bit, electrode groups, and channel tags.
Data acquisition fields
-
Type of data acquisition
Required
Choice
-
Select the acquisition method recorded by this row. The
selection controls the structured fields shown under Data.
-
Session
Required
Single selection
-
Select the session during which the data were collected. The
choices are limited to sessions in projects where you can make
changes, and the session supplies this entry's project
permission context. The session's subjects or specimen sets
decide which interfaces are offered below.
-
Experimental interfaces
Required
Multiple selections
-
Select the target-facing interfaces the signal was acquired
through. The choices are the interfaces installed on the
session's subjects or specimen sets, limited to the interface
types that fit the selected acquisition type. The order in
which you select them is stored, so list them in the order
that matches your channel or stream layout.
-
Equipment
Multiple selections
-
Setup is an optional form-only filter for this
field; it is not stored on the Data acquisition. Select the
reusable instruments used to acquire the data. Only setups you
can change and the Equipment they contain are offered.
-
Data
Varies by type
Structured details
-
Structured fields defined by the selected type, covering the
file, format, and acquisition parameters. No detail field is
required, but values recorded here are searchable and
comparable, while the same information in Notes is not.
-
Order
Number
-
Controls where this acquisition appears among the session's
other entries. Use it when the order of streams is meaningful;
it does not imply a start time.
-
Image
File
-
Attach a representative preview, such as a field of view or an
example trace. This is illustrative only: it is not the
acquired dataset and does not replace a data-storage entry.
-
Notes
Text · 500 characters
-
Record deviations, quality problems, or other relevant context
that the structured fields do not capture.
Permissions
A Data acquisition inherits its access through the projects associated with
its Session. You need change access through at least one of those projects to
add or edit it. The form limits sessions, interfaces, and equipment to
entries you are permitted to use.
API access
Data acquisitions can be read and written through
/api/private/modules/dataacquisition/. The corresponding public
route is read-only. Structured acquisition data uses details.
Interfaces are supplied as interfaces, an ordered list of
interface ids, and the order in which they are supplied is preserved.
Data acquisition documentation
Manipulations
A Manipulation describes one controlled stimulus or perturbation delivered
during a Session. Each Manipulation is one delivered stimulus. Use
separate entries when the stimuli have different types or their own
delivery parameters, even when they were applied in the same session.
Manipulation, Procedure, and Data acquisition
A Manipulation is something applied to the target during a
session in order to perturb it. A Procedure is an action
performed on a subject, which is how access and delivery routes get
established in the first place. A Data acquisition is the
signal recorded. An optogenetic light pulse is a Manipulation; the fiber
implantation that made it possible is a Procedure; the photometry trace
recorded alongside it is a Data acquisition.
The Session is the required parent and supplies the project
context. Experimental interfaces are the link to how the
manipulation reached the target: they identify the delivery or stimulation
interface the stimulus went through, and keep the order in which you select
them. At least one is required. The Procedure that installed an interface is
reached through the interface itself, so the manipulation no longer links to
Procedures directly. Materials belong to the Procedure or the interface that
installed them, never directly to a Manipulation.
Manipulation types
The selected type controls the structured parameter fields shown in
the form. No type has required detail fields. Most types share a
common core — amplitude or concentration, duration, profile,
repetitions, and whether the stimulus was closed loop — so the
descriptions below concentrate on what distinguishes each one. The
order follows the Type dropdown.
Electrical and Magnetic Stimulation
Stimulation with electric currents or magnetic fields, through implanted electrodes, transcranially or by an applied field.
-
Deep brain stimulation (DBS):
Electrical stimulation delivered through an implanted electrode to a defined deep target. Use this rather than Electrical stimulation when the defining feature is the chronic deep-target implant.
Structured fields: amplitude, duration, profile, duty cycle, repetitions, injection polarity, and closed loop.
-
Electrical stimulation:
General electrical stimulation through an electrode, including intracortical and peripheral stimulation. This is the default electrical choice when no more specific type applies.
Structured fields: as for DBS.
-
Electromagnetic field stimulation:
Exposure to an applied electromagnetic field rather than current delivered through a contacting electrode.
Structured fields: as for DBS.
-
Transcranial electrical stimulation:
Current applied through scalp or skull electrodes without penetrating the tissue, covering direct, alternating, and random noise variants. Record which variant was used in the profile and notes.
Structured fields: as for DBS.
-
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS):
Non-contact induction of currents in tissue using a magnetic coil.
Structured fields: as for DBS.
Optical, Thermal and Ultrasound Stimulation
Stimulation with light, temperature change or ultrasound, including optogenetic stimulation.
-
Optogenetic stimulation:
Light delivered to drive or suppress genetically targeted cells. Record the wavelength, since it is what distinguishes excitation from inhibition for most opsins.
Structured fields: power, wavelength, profile, duration, duty cycle, repetitions, and closed loop.
-
Thermal perturbation:
Deliberate heating or cooling of tissue, such as focal cooling used to silence a region.
Structured fields: amplitude, duration, profile, duty cycle, repetitions, and closed loop.
-
Ultrasound stimulation:
Focused ultrasound used to modulate activity, as distinct from ultrasound used to image, which is a Data acquisition.
Structured fields: acoustic pressure, acoustic intensity, duration, duty cycle, profile, repetitions, injection polarity, and closed loop.
Chemical and Pharmacological Perturbations
Delivery of drugs or other agents by injection, inhalation, superfusion, microperfusion or other liquid application.
-
Liquid perturbation:
A change of the fluid around the preparation or exposed tissue whose effect comes from the solution itself, such as an osmotic challenge, ionic substitution or a bath-medium switch. Local delivery through a probe is Microperfusion; a drug in the bath is Pharmacological superfusion.
Structured fields: concentration, volume, profile, repetitions, flow rate, and closed loop.
-
Microperfusion:
Local delivery or exchange of a solution inside tissue through an implanted probe or line at low flow, as in open-flow microperfusion or reverse microdialysis. Use it when the agent reaches a small target volume; bath-wide changes are Liquid perturbation or Pharmacological superfusion.
Structured fields: as for Liquid perturbation.
-
Pharmacological inhalation:
An agent delivered through the respiratory route during the session.
Structured fields: concentration, flow rate, profile, volume, repetitions, and closed loop.
-
Pharmacological injection:
An agent injected during the session to perturb the system under study. A drug given as clinical care, such as analgesia or anesthesia, is a Procedure instead.
Structured fields: as for Liquid perturbation.
-
Pharmacological superfusion:
An agent applied by bathing the preparation in solution, the usual route for slice and other ex-vivo work.
Structured fields: as for Liquid perturbation.
Sensory Stimulation
Presentation of auditory, visual, tactile, odor or combined sensory stimuli to the subject.
-
Auditory stimulation:
A presented sound, such as a tone, click, or noise burst. Recording sound is a Data acquisition, not a Manipulation.
Structured fields: amplitude, duration, frequency, modulation frequency, profile, duty cycle, repetitions, and closed loop.
-
Multisensory stimulation:
Two or more modalities presented as one designed stimulus. Use this when the timing between modalities is part of the experiment; record separate entries when the stimuli are independent.
Structured fields: modalities, temporal relationship, duration, repetitions, and closed loop.
-
Odor stimulation:
A presented olfactory stimulus, usually delivered by an olfactometer.
Structured fields: concentration, flow rate, repetitions, and inhalation phase.
-
Tactile stimulation:
A mechanical stimulus applied to the body surface, such as whisker deflection or a von Frey filament.
Structured fields: contact type, stimulation site, force, duration, profile, repetitions, and closed loop.
-
Visual stimulation:
A presented visual stimulus, such as a grating, flash, or natural scene.
Structured fields: stimulus types, stimulus position, duration, repetitions, and closed loop.
Manipulation fields
-
Type of manipulation
Required
Choice
-
Select the stimulus or perturbation recorded by this row. The
selection controls the structured parameter fields shown below.
-
Session
Required
Single selection
-
Select the session during which the manipulation was delivered.
The choices are limited to sessions in projects where you can
make changes, and the session supplies this entry's project
permission context.
-
Experimental interfaces
Required
Multiple selections
-
Select the interfaces through which the stimulus was delivered,
such as an optic fiber, cannula, or stimulating electrode. The
order in which you select them is stored, so list them in the
order that matches your delivery configuration.
-
Equipment
Multiple selections
-
Setup is an optional form-only filter for this
field; it is not stored on the Manipulation. Select the
reusable instruments that generated or controlled the stimulus,
such as a laser, stimulator, or olfactometer. Only setups you
can change and the Equipment they contain are offered.
-
Data
Varies by type
Structured details
-
Structured parameters defined by the selected type. No detail
field is required, but repeatable parameters recorded here are
searchable and comparable, while the same values in Notes are
not. Numeric parameters carry their own unit, so record the
unit you measured in rather than converting.
-
Order
Number
-
Controls where this manipulation appears among the session's
other entries. Use it when the sequence of stimuli is
meaningful; it does not imply a start time.
-
Notes
Text · 500 characters
-
Record exceptional context, deviations, or delivery problems.
Parameters that repeat across sessions belong in the structured
fields instead.
Permissions
A Manipulation inherits its access through the projects associated with its
Session. You need change access through at least one of those projects to add
or edit it. The form limits sessions, interfaces, and equipment to entries
you are permitted to use.
API access
Manipulations can be read and written through
/api/private/modules/manipulation/. The corresponding public
route is read-only. Structured parameters use details.
Interfaces are supplied as interfaces, an ordered list of
interface ids, and the order in which they are supplied is preserved.
Manipulation documentation
Epochs
An Epoch is a named time segment within one Session. Each row is one segment,
defined by a start and end measured in seconds from the session start. Epochs
are what turn a session from a list of modules into a timeline: a behavior, a
data acquisition, or a manipulation can be attached to the segment it belongs
to.
How epochs link the modules
An epoch names a period — baseline, stimulation, recovery — and gathers what
happened during it. On the Epochs tab the session's behaviors, data
acquisitions and manipulations sit in a palette under the epoch list: drag
one onto the epoch it belongs to, or use the + Behavior,
+ Data acquisition or + Manipulation button
under an epoch to pick from a list. The timeline above the list redraws as you
type start and end times and can be grouped by epoch (each epoch with its links
beneath it) or by kind; rows can be dragged by their handle to reorder them (or
sorted by start time in one click). The linking rules differ by module, and the
difference is deliberate:
An epoch runs one behavior and can link any number of data acquisitions and
manipulations, so a video recording and an electrophysiology recording that
ran at the same time both sit on the one epoch.
-
A data acquisition belongs to at most one epoch, because a
recording covers one stretch of time. Dropping one that is already linked
elsewhere offers to move it.
-
A manipulation can be linked to several epochs, because the
same stimulation protocol can be delivered in more than one segment.
-
A behavior can appear in several epochs, because the same
task can run across more than one segment.
Times are relative to the session's own date and time, so set that on the
Session before relying on epoch boundaries. The end of an epoch cannot be
before its start.
Epoch fields
-
Name
Required
Text
-
What this segment is called, such as "Baseline", "Stimulation
period", or "Recovery". Name it for what was happening, since
the times alone will not tell a reader that.
-
Session
Required
Single selection
-
The session this segment belongs to. It supplies the epoch's
permission context, and it also determines which behaviors,
acquisitions, and manipulations can be linked below.
-
Start
Duration
-
When the segment begins, in seconds from the start of the
session. Leave it empty if the segment runs from the session's
beginning.
-
End
Duration
-
When the segment ends, in seconds from the start of the
session. Leave it empty if the segment runs to the end of the
session.
-
Behavior
Single selection
-
The behavior running during this segment. The choices come from
this session, and the same behavior may be linked to several
epochs.
-
Data acquisitions
Multiple selection
-
The streams recorded during this segment; concurrent recordings
(video and electrophysiology, say) all sit on the one epoch. A
data acquisition can belong to only one epoch per session — the
pairing is enforced — so one already linked elsewhere is shown
greyed in the palette, and dropping it here moves it.
-
Manipulations
Multiple selection
-
The stimuli delivered during this segment. The choices come
from this session, and the same manipulation may be linked to
several epochs.
Permissions
An Epoch inherits its access from its Session, and so from that session's
Projects. You need change access through at least one of those projects to
add or edit it.
API access
Epochs can be read and written through /api/private/stem/epoch/.
Start and end are durations in seconds relative to the session start, not
absolute timestamps. behavior is one id;
dataacquisitions and manipulations are lists of
ids. The former singular keys for those two (dataacquisition,
manipulation) are still accepted on write and returned with the
first link, so existing scripts keep working; new scripts should use the
lists.
Epoch documentation
