Neural Modeling: Neuron

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 07:13:26 GMT

It seems logical to start building a neural network framework or a simulator with a neuronal model. Neuronal models and their implementations range from simple (like the model that is implemented in Neural Viewer) to very complex (like the Hodgkin-Huxley model). While there are many models to use (Which model to use for cortical spiking neurons? article provides a good coverage of the existing models) I like the model proposed by Eugene Izhikevich in Simple model of Spiking Neurons as it is computationally efficient and still biologically plausible.

Eugene's website provides MATLAB scripts to play with the models, but since I didn't have access to a MATLAB instance I decided to reproduce the same set of diagrams using Perl. After a couple of weeks of experiments and several emails to the author I was able to model various types of neurons according to the parameters described in Dynamical Systems in Neuroscience: The Geometry of Excitability and Bursting. Here is how the results look for the regular spiking (RS) neuron:

And here are the results for the chattering (CH) neuron:

Zero Brane

Neural Modeling: Neuron