Connectionists: Software WG: Software Highlight: Dendrify, a framework for incorporating dendrites to spiking neural networks

[Ankur Sinha]

Dear all,

Apologies for the cross-posts.

Please join us for the INCF/OCNS Software Working Group's next Software
Highlight session:

https://ocns.github.io/SoftwareWG/2023/01/27/dev-session-michalis-pagkalos-dendrify.html

Michalis Pagkalos will introduce and discuss Dendrify, a framework for
incorporating dendrites to spiking neural networks, in this session.

- Date: February 7, 1600 UTC (Click here to see your local time[1]) (Add to calendar[2]).
- Zoom: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/91907842769?pwd=bnEzTU9Eem9SRmthSjJIRElFZ0xwUT09

The abstract for the talk is below:

Current SNNs studies frequently ignore dendrites, the thin membranous
extensions of biological neurons that receive and preprocess nearly all
synaptic inputs in the brain. However, decades of experimental and
theoretical research suggest that dendrites possess compelling
computational capabilities that greatly influence neuronal and circuit
functions. Notably, standard point-neuron networks cannot adequately
capture most hallmark dendritic properties. Meanwhile, biophysically
detailed neuron models can be suboptimal for practical applications due
to their complexity, and high computational cost. For this reason, we
introduce Dendrify, a new theoretical framework combined with an
open-source Python package (compatible with Brian2) that facilitates the
development of bioinspired SNNs. Dendrify allows the creation of reduced
compartmental neuron models with simplified yet biologically relevant
dendritic and synaptic integrative properties. Such models strike a good
balance between flexibility, performance, and biological accuracy,
allowing us to explore dendritic contributions to network-level
functions while paving the way for developing more realistic
neuromorphic systems.

- Manuscript: Introducing the Dendrify framework for incorporating dendrites to spiking neural networks | Nature Communications [3]
- Source code: Poirazi-Lab/dendrify: Introducing dendrites to spiking neural networks. Designed for the Brian 2 simulator [4].
- Documentation: https://dendrify.readthedocs.io/en/latest/


[1] https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Software+Highlight%3A+Michalis+Pagkalos%3A+Dendrify&iso=20230207T16&p1=1440
[2] https://ocns.github.io/SoftwareWG/extras/ics/20230207-dendrify.ics
[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35747-8
[4] https://github.com/Poirazi-Lab/dendrify


Please subscribe to the working group's mailing list for reminders, more
updates, and to contact us:
https://ocns.github.io/SoftwareWG/pages/contact.html

On behalf of the working group,

-- 
Thanks,
Regards,
Ankur Sinha (He / Him / His) | https://ankursinha.in
Research Fellow at the Silver Lab, University College London | http://silverlab.org/
Free/Open source community volunteer at the NeuroFedora project | https://neuro.fedoraproject.org
Time zone: Europe/London
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