book and software announcement - NSL3.0

[Alfredo]

Dear Connectionists:

The following book may be of interest to you. For more information please 
visit:

http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=68013B05-2E40-4A86-BB67-0A8964D7B663&ttype=2&tid=8815

Best wishes,

Alfredo

The Neural Simulation Language: A System for Brain Modeling
by A. Weitzenfeld, M.A. Arbib and A. Alexander
MIT Press

Book Description:

The book describes the Neural Simulation Language (NSL) developed by 
Alfredo Weitzenfeld, Michael Arbib, and Amanda Alexander. NSL is a 
simulation environment for modular brain modeling now in its third major 
release supporting two programming environments, one in Java and the other 
one in C++.
NSL addresses the needs of a wide range of users. For novice users 
interested only in an introduction to neural networks, NSL provides 
user-friendly interfaces and a set of predefined artificial and biological 
neural models. For more advanced users well acquainted with the area of 
neural modeling NSL offers more sophistication through extended 
visualization tools and programming. NSL may easily be linked to other 
software by doing direct programming in either Java or C++, such as linking 
it to numerical libraries or robotic systems.

NSL is especially suitable for academia and research where simulation and 
model development can complement theoretical courses in both biological and 
artificial neural networks. Models included in the book are examples of 
models that can be used for this purpose. Students are able to run these 
models and change their behavior by modifying input or network parameters. 
Researchers may extend these architectures in developing new neural models.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part presents an overview of 
neural network and schema modeling, a brief history of NSL, and a 
discussion of the new version, NSL 3.0. It includes tutorials on several 
basic neural models. The second part presents models built in NSL by 
researchers from around the world, with models such as conditional 
learning, face recognition, associative search networks and visuomotor 
coordination. Each chapter provides an explanation of a model, an overview 
of the NSL 3.0 code, and a representative set of simulation results.

Table of Contents:

Part I. An Overview of NSL Modeling and Simulation

1	Introduction: Introduction to neural network modeling and simulation in NSL.
2	Simulation in NSL: Examples of biological and artificial neural network 
simulation in NSL,
	how to run them.
3	Modeling in NSL: Examples of biological and artificial neural network 
modeling in NSL,
	how to create them.
4	Schematic Capture System: Describes the Schematic Capture System visual 
tools for the
	design of neural models and model libraries.
5	User Interface and Graphical Windows: Describes the NSL Graphics and Window
	Interface environment.
6	The Modeling Language NSLM: Describes the NSLM high level modeling 
language for writing
	neural network models.
7	The Scripting Language NSLS: Describes the NSLS scripting language for 
specifying
	simulation interaction and control commands.

Part II. Neural Modeling and Simulation Examples Using NSL

8	Adaptive Resonance Theory - Grossberg ART
		by T. Tanaka and A. Weitzenfeld
9	Depth Perception - Dev and House Depth Perception
		by A. Weitzenfeld and M. Arbib
10	Retina
		by R. Corbacho and A. Weitzenfeld
11	Receptive Fields
		by F. Moran, M.A. Andrade, Chacn and A. Weitzenfeld
12	The Associative Search Network: Landmark Learning and Hill Climbing -
	Barto and Sutton Landmark Learning
		by M. Bota and A. Guazelli
13	A Model of Primate Visual-Motor Conditional Learning: Reinforcement 
Learning
		by A. Fagg and A. Weitzenfeld
14	The Modular Design of the Oculomotor System in Monkeys
  		by P. Dominey, M. Arbib, and A. Alexander
15	Crowley-Arbib Saccade Model
		by M. Crowley, E. Oztop, and S. Mrmol
16	A Cerebellar Model of Sensorimotor Adaptation
		by J. Spoelstra
17	Learing to Detour
		by F. Corbacho and A. Weitzenfeld
18	Face Recognition by Dynamic Link Matching
		by L. Wiskott, C. von der Malsburg and A. Weitzenfeld

The NSL web site http://www.neuralsimulationlanguage.org includes all 
software and models described in the book as well as other relevant 
information. The NSL Java version can be downloaded from http://nsl.usc.edu 
as well.