1. Computing with neurons

In this module we will take a first look at neurons from a computational perspective. According to the neuron doctrine neurons are the main units of computation in biological nervous systems. In this course, we will focus less on the biological plausibility and more on the computational function. What are their purpose? What can they do?

Lecture content

1. Why should we care about neuromorphics neural networks?

2. Leaky integrators (LI) and leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) models

3. Using contemporary neuron simulators

4. Project: Using neurons as controllers

Literature

• Maass, W. Networks of spiking neurons: The third generation of neural network models. Neural Networks 10, 1659–1671 (1997)

• Aimone, J. B. & Parekh, O. The brain’s unique take on algorithms. Nat Commun 14, 4910 (2023)