Clarify Units.spike_times and Units.obs_intervals documentation

core/nwb.misc.yaml

@@ -194,7 +194,9 @@ groups:
   - name: spike_times
     neurodata_type_inc: VectorData
     dtype: float64
-    doc: Spike times for each unit in seconds.
+    doc: Spike times for each unit, in seconds, relative to the session reference
+      time (i.e. session_start_time or, if defined, timestamps_reference_time).
+      Times should be stored in ascending order.
     quantity: '?'
     attributes:
     - name: resolution
@@ -218,7 +220,9 @@ groups:
     shape:
     - null
     - 2
-    doc: Observation intervals for each unit.
+    doc: Observation intervals for each unit, in seconds, relative to the session
+      reference time (i.e. session_start_time or, if defined, timestamps_reference_time).
+      Intervals should be in ascending order and non-overlapping.
     quantity: '?'
   - name: electrodes_index
     neurodata_type_inc: VectorIndex

docs/format/source/format_release_notes.rst

@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ Minor changes
   should be in microns. (#658)
 - Expanded documentation for the ``Subject`` 'age' dataset, including details on ISO 8601 Duration format and
   age range representation.
+- Clarified ``Units.spike_times`` and ``Units.obs_intervals`` documentation to specify that times are relative
+  to the session reference time and that values should be stored in ascending order. (#676)
 - Improved documentation of ``Units.spike_times.resolution`` to clarify that it represents the temporal resolution
   (sampling period) of the spike times. (#666)