AUTHOR=Goodman Dan F., Brette Romain 

TITLE=Brian: a simulator for spiking neural networks in Python

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroinformatics

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2008

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroinformatics/articles/10.3389/neuro.11.005.2008

DOI=10.3389/neuro.11.005.2008

ISSN=1662-5196

ABSTRACT=<p>“Brian” is a new simulator for spiking neural networks, written in Python (<uri xlink:href="http://brian. di.ens.fr" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">http://brian. di.ens.fr</uri>). It is an intuitive and highly flexible tool for rapidly developing new models, especially networks of single-compartment neurons. In addition to using standard types of neuron models, users can define models by writing arbitrary differential equations in ordinary mathematical notation. Python scientific libraries can also be used for defining models and analysing data. Vectorisation techniques allow efficient simulations despite the overheads of an interpreted language. Brian will be especially valuable for working on non-standard neuron models not easily covered by existing software, and as an alternative to using Matlab or C for simulations. With its easy and intuitive syntax, Brian is also very well suited for teaching computational neuroscience.</p>