Connectionists: Towards Reproducible Descriptions of Neuronal

[mjhealy@ece.unm.edu]

Dear Dr. Plesser,

I have forwarded your message to my colleague Tom Caudell.  He will give
you some information about the latest version of the eLoom neural network
simulation language and system (version 2.0 is under development).  The
eLoom 1 system was described in

Caudell, T. P., Xiao, Y., and Healy, M.J., “eLoom and Flatland:
specification, simulation, and visualization engines for the study of
arbitrary hierarchical neural architectures”,  Neural Networks, V. 16,
Nos. 5-6, pp. 617-624 (July 2003).

Regards,
Mike Healy

>
> Dear Colleagues!
>
> We would like to draw your attention to our recent review of the sorry
state of neuronal network
> descriptions in the literature, including a proposal for a Good Model
Description Practice:
>
> 	Nordlie E, Gewaltig M-O, Plesser HE (2009).
> 	Towards reproducible descriptions of neuronal network models.
> 	PLoS Comput Biol 5(8):e1000456.
> 	http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000456.
>
> You'll find a summary below.
>
> The Good Model Descriptions Practice proposes standardized tables to
provide a concise overview
> over your model. To make it easier for you to include these tables in
you
> own papers, we provide
> the LaTeX code for one of the tables at
>
> 	http://www.nest-initiative.org/images/a/af/NordlieGewaltigPlesserPLoS2009Fig5.tex
>
> We sincerely hope that you will find our proposal useful.
>
> Best regards,
> Hans Ekkehard Plesser
>
>
> Author Summary
> --------------
>
> Scientists make precise, testable statements about their observations
and
> models of nature.
> Other scientists can then evaluate these statements and attempt to
reproduce or extend them.
> Results that cannot be reproduced will be duly criticized to arrive at
better interpretations of
> experimental results or better models. Over time, this discourse
develops
> our joint scientific
> knowledge. A crucial condition for this process is that scientists can
describe their own models
> in a manner that is precise and comprehensible to others. We analyze in
this paper how well
> models of neuronal networks are described in the scientific literature
and
> conclude that the
> wide variety of manners in which network models are described makes it
difficult to communicate
> models successfully. We propose a good model description practice to
improve the communication
> of neuronal network models.
>
> --
> Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser
> Associate Professor
>
> Dept. of Mathematical Sciences and Technology
> Norwegian University of Life Sciences
>
> Phone +47 6496 5467
> Fax   +47 6496 5401
> Email hans.ekkehard.plesser at umb.no
> Home  http://arken.umb.no/~plesser
>