In his work from 2000ꜛ, Nicolas Brunel introduced a comprehensive framework for studying the dynamics of sparsely connected networks. The network is based on spiking neurons with random connectivity and differently balanced excitation and inhibition. It is characterized by a high level of sparseness and a low level of firing rates. The model is able...

In this tutorial, we will explore the oscillatory population dynamics of generalized integrate-and-fire (GIF) neurons simulated with NEST. The GIF neuron model is a biophysically detailed model that captures the essential features of spiking neurons, including spike-frequency adaptation and dynamic threshold behavior. By simulating such a population...

In this post, we explore how easy it is it is to set up a large-scale, multi-population spiking neural network (SNN) with the NEST simulator. We simulate a simple SNN comprising two distinct populations of Izhikevich neurons, demonstrating the efficiency and flexibility of NEST and its capability to handle complex neural network simulations with ease....

In the previous post, we learned about the basic concepts of the NEST simulator and how to create a simple single neuron model. This time, we will take a closer look at the connection concepts in NEST, which are crucial for building more complex neural networks. Introduction Connectionsꜛ in NEST are created via the nest.Conncetion(pre, post,...

I have added a hands-on tutorial to the Assessing Animal Behavior lecture. The tutorial covers the GUI-based use of DeepLabCutꜛ, a popular open-source software package for markerless pose estimation of animals. DeepLabCut uses deep learning to track the movements of animals in videos, enabling the study of behavior in a high-throughput and multi-modal...

While NEST is designed for large-scale simulations of neural spike networks, the underlying models are based on approximating the behavior of single neurons and synapses. Before using NEST for network simulations, it is probably helpful to first understand the basic functions of the software tool by modelling and studying the behavior of individual...