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Furber S. Digital neuromorphic technology: current and future prospects. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwad283. [PMID: 38577676 PMCID: PMC10989295 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Digital approaches to brain-inspired computing have advanced apace over recent years - where is the state-of-the-art and what does the future hold?
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Affiliation(s)
- Steve Furber
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, UK
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2
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Schmid D, Oess T, Neumann H. Listen to the Brain-Auditory Sound Source Localization in Neuromorphic Computing Architectures. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:s23094451. [PMID: 37177655 PMCID: PMC10181665 DOI: 10.3390/s23094451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Conventional processing of sensory input often relies on uniform sampling leading to redundant information and unnecessary resource consumption throughout the entire processing pipeline. Neuromorphic computing challenges these conventions by mimicking biology and employing distributed event-based hardware. Based on the task of lateral auditory sound source localization (SSL), we propose a generic approach to map biologically inspired neural networks to neuromorphic hardware. First, we model the neural mechanisms of SSL based on the interaural level difference (ILD). Afterward, we identify generic computational motifs within the model and transform them into spike-based components. A hardware-specific step then implements them on neuromorphic hardware. We exemplify our approach by mapping the neural SSL model onto two platforms, namely the IBM TrueNorth Neurosynaptic System and SpiNNaker. Both implementations have been tested on synthetic and real-world data in terms of neural tunings and readout characteristics. For synthetic stimuli, both implementations provide a perfect readout (100% accuracy). Preliminary real-world experiments yield accuracies of 78% (TrueNorth) and 13% (SpiNNaker), RMSEs of 41∘ and 39∘, and MAEs of 18∘ and 29∘, respectively. Overall, the proposed mapping approach allows for the successful implementation of the same SSL model on two different neuromorphic architectures paving the way toward more hardware-independent neural SSL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Schmid
- Institute of Neural Information Processing, Ulm University, James-Franck-Ring, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Timo Oess
- Bernstein Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, Hansastr. 9a, 79104 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Heiko Neumann
- Institute of Neural Information Processing, Ulm University, James-Franck-Ring, 89081 Ulm, Germany
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3
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Kauth K, Stadtmann T, Sobhani V, Gemmeke T. neuroAIx-Framework: design of future neuroscience simulation systems exhibiting execution of the cortical microcircuit model 20× faster than biological real-time. Front Comput Neurosci 2023; 17:1144143. [PMID: 37152299 PMCID: PMC10156974 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2023.1144143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Research in the field of computational neuroscience relies on highly capable simulation platforms. With real-time capabilities surpassed for established models like the cortical microcircuit, it is time to conceive next-generation systems: neuroscience simulators providing significant acceleration, even for larger networks with natural density, biologically plausible multi-compartment models and the modeling of long-term and structural plasticity. Methods Stressing the need for agility to adapt to new concepts or findings in the domain of neuroscience, we have developed the neuroAIx-Framework consisting of an empirical modeling tool, a virtual prototype, and a cluster of FPGA boards. This framework is designed to support and accelerate the continuous development of such platforms driven by new insights in neuroscience. Results Based on design space explorations using this framework, we devised and realized an FPGA cluster consisting of 35 NetFPGA SUME boards. Discussion This system functions as an evaluation platform for our framework. At the same time, it resulted in a fully deterministic neuroscience simulation system surpassing the state of the art in both performance and energy efficiency. It is capable of simulating the microcircuit with 20× acceleration compared to biological real-time and achieves an energy efficiency of 48nJ per synaptic event.
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4
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Connectivity concepts in neuronal network modeling. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010086. [PMID: 36074778 PMCID: PMC9455883 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Sustainable research on computational models of neuronal networks requires published models to be understandable, reproducible, and extendable. Missing details or ambiguities about mathematical concepts and assumptions, algorithmic implementations, or parameterizations hinder progress. Such flaws are unfortunately frequent and one reason is a lack of readily applicable standards and tools for model description. Our work aims to advance complete and concise descriptions of network connectivity but also to guide the implementation of connection routines in simulation software and neuromorphic hardware systems. We first review models made available by the computational neuroscience community in the repositories ModelDB and Open Source Brain, and investigate the corresponding connectivity structures and their descriptions in both manuscript and code. The review comprises the connectivity of networks with diverse levels of neuroanatomical detail and exposes how connectivity is abstracted in existing description languages and simulator interfaces. We find that a substantial proportion of the published descriptions of connectivity is ambiguous. Based on this review, we derive a set of connectivity concepts for deterministically and probabilistically connected networks and also address networks embedded in metric space. Beside these mathematical and textual guidelines, we propose a unified graphical notation for network diagrams to facilitate an intuitive understanding of network properties. Examples of representative network models demonstrate the practical use of the ideas. We hope that the proposed standardizations will contribute to unambiguous descriptions and reproducible implementations of neuronal network connectivity in computational neuroscience.
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Kleijnen R, Robens M, Schiek M, van Waasen S. Verification of a neuromorphic computing network simulator using experimental traffic data. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:958343. [PMID: 36003958 PMCID: PMC9393391 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.958343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Simulations are a powerful tool to explore the design space of hardware systems, offering the flexibility to analyze different designs by simply changing parameters within the simulator setup. A precondition for the effectiveness of this methodology is that the simulation results accurately represent the real system. In a previous study, we introduced a simulator specifically designed to estimate the network load and latency to be observed on the connections in neuromorphic computing (NC) systems. The simulator was shown to be especially valuable in the case of large scale heterogeneous neural networks (NNs). In this work, we compare the network load measured on a SpiNNaker board running a NN in different configurations reported in the literature to the results obtained with our simulator running the same configurations. The simulated network loads show minor differences from the values reported in the ascribed publication but fall within the margin of error, considering the generation of the test case NN based on statistics that introduced variations. Having shown that the network simulator provides representative results for this type of —biological plausible—heterogeneous NNs, it also paves the way to further use of the simulator for more complex network analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Kleijnen
- Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics–Electronic Systems (ZEA-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Julich, Germany
- *Correspondence: Robert Kleijnen
| | - Markus Robens
- Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics–Electronic Systems (ZEA-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Julich, Germany
| | - Michael Schiek
- Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics–Electronic Systems (ZEA-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Julich, Germany
| | - Stefan van Waasen
- Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics–Electronic Systems (ZEA-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Julich, Germany
- Faculty of Engineering, Communication Systems, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
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Ward M, Rhodes O. Beyond LIF Neurons on Neuromorphic Hardware. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:881598. [PMID: 35864984 PMCID: PMC9294628 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.881598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuromorphic systems aim to provide accelerated low-power simulation of Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs), typically featuring simple and efficient neuron models such as the Leaky Integrate-and-Fire (LIF) model. Biologically plausible neuron models developed by neuroscientists are largely ignored in neuromorphic computing due to their increased computational costs. This work bridges this gap through implementation and evaluation of a single compartment Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) neuron and a multi-compartment neuron incorporating dendritic computation on the SpiNNaker, and SpiNNaker2 prototype neuromorphic systems. Numerical accuracy of the model implementations is benchmarked against reference models in the NEURON simulation environment, with excellent agreement achieved by both the fixed- and floating-point SpiNNaker implementations. The computational cost is evaluated in terms of timing measurements profiling neural state updates. While the additional model complexity understandably increases computation times relative to LIF models, it was found a wallclock time increase of only 8× was observed for the HH neuron (11× for the mutlicompartment model), demonstrating the potential of hardware accelerators in the next-generation neuromorphic system to optimize implementation of complex neuron models. The benefits of models directly corresponding to biophysiological data are demonstrated: HH neurons are able to express a range of output behaviors not captured by LIF neurons; and the dendritic compartment provides the first implementation of a spiking multi-compartment neuron model with XOR-solving capabilities on neuromorphic hardware. The work paves the way for inclusion of more biologically representative neuron models in neuromorphic systems, and showcases the benefits of hardware accelerators included in the next-generation SpiNNaker2 architecture.
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Tiddia G, Golosio B, Albers J, Senk J, Simula F, Pronold J, Fanti V, Pastorelli E, Paolucci PS, van Albada SJ. Fast Simulation of a Multi-Area Spiking Network Model of Macaque Cortex on an MPI-GPU Cluster. Front Neuroinform 2022; 16:883333. [PMID: 35859800 PMCID: PMC9289599 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2022.883333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Spiking neural network models are increasingly establishing themselves as an effective tool for simulating the dynamics of neuronal populations and for understanding the relationship between these dynamics and brain function. Furthermore, the continuous development of parallel computing technologies and the growing availability of computational resources are leading to an era of large-scale simulations capable of describing regions of the brain of ever larger dimensions at increasing detail. Recently, the possibility to use MPI-based parallel codes on GPU-equipped clusters to run such complex simulations has emerged, opening up novel paths to further speed-ups. NEST GPU is a GPU library written in CUDA-C/C++ for large-scale simulations of spiking neural networks, which was recently extended with a novel algorithm for remote spike communication through MPI on a GPU cluster. In this work we evaluate its performance on the simulation of a multi-area model of macaque vision-related cortex, made up of about 4 million neurons and 24 billion synapses and representing 32 mm2 surface area of the macaque cortex. The outcome of the simulations is compared against that obtained using the well-known CPU-based spiking neural network simulator NEST on a high-performance computing cluster. The results show not only an optimal match with the NEST statistical measures of the neural activity in terms of three informative distributions, but also remarkable achievements in terms of simulation time per second of biological activity. Indeed, NEST GPU was able to simulate a second of biological time of the full-scale macaque cortex model in its metastable state 3.1× faster than NEST using 32 compute nodes equipped with an NVIDIA V100 GPU each. Using the same configuration, the ground state of the full-scale macaque cortex model was simulated 2.4× faster than NEST.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianmarco Tiddia
- Department of Physics, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
| | - Bruno Golosio
- Department of Physics, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
| | - Jasper Albers
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Johanna Senk
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Francesco Simula
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Jari Pronold
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Viviana Fanti
- Department of Physics, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
| | - Elena Pastorelli
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Sacha J. van Albada
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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Ostrau C, Klarhorst C, Thies M, Rückert U. Benchmarking Neuromorphic Hardware and Its Energy Expenditure. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:873935. [PMID: 35720731 PMCID: PMC9201569 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.873935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We propose and discuss a platform overarching benchmark suite for neuromorphic hardware. This suite covers benchmarks from low-level characterization to high-level application evaluation using benchmark specific metrics. With this rather broad approach we are able to compare various hardware systems including mixed-signal and fully digital neuromorphic architectures. Selected benchmarks are discussed and results for several target platforms are presented revealing characteristic differences between the various systems. Furthermore, a proposed energy model allows to combine benchmark performance metrics with energy efficiency. This model enables the prediction of the energy expenditure of a network on a target system without actually having access to it. To quantify the efficiency gap between neuromorphics and the biological paragon of the human brain, the energy model is used to estimate the energy required for a full brain simulation. This reveals that current neuromorphic systems are at least four orders of magnitude less efficient. It is argued, that even with a modern fabrication process, two to three orders of magnitude are remaining. Finally, for selected benchmarks the performance and efficiency of the neuromorphic solution is compared to standard approaches.
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Dey S, Dimitrov A. Mapping and Validating a Point Neuron Model on Intel's Neuromorphic Hardware Loihi. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:883360. [PMID: 35712458 PMCID: PMC9197133 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.883360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuromorphic hardware is based on emulating the natural biological structure of the brain. Since its computational model is similar to standard neural models, it could serve as a computational accelerator for research projects in the field of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, including biomedical applications. However, in order to exploit this new generation of computer chips, we ought to perform rigorous simulation and consequent validation of neuromorphic models against their conventional implementations. In this work, we lay out the numeric groundwork to enable a comparison between neuromorphic and conventional platforms. "Loihi"-Intel's fifth generation neuromorphic chip, which is based on the idea of Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) emulating the activity of neurons in the brain, serves as our neuromorphic platform. The work here focuses on Leaky Integrate and Fire (LIF) models based on neurons in the mouse primary visual cortex and matched to a rich data set of anatomical, physiological and behavioral constraints. Simulations on classical hardware serve as the validation platform for the neuromorphic implementation. We find that Loihi replicates classical simulations very efficiently with high precision. As a by-product, we also investigate Loihi's potential in terms of scalability and performance and find that it scales notably well in terms of run-time performance as the simulated networks become larger.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srijanie Dey
- Department of Mathematics, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, United States
| | - Alexander Dimitrov
- Department of Mathematics, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, United States
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Dey S, Dimitrov A. Mapping and Validating a Point Neuron Model on Intel's Neuromorphic Hardware Loihi. Front Neuroinform 2022; 16:883360. [PMID: 36726406 PMCID: PMC9886005 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2022.883360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuromorphic hardware is based on emulating the natural biological structure of the brain. Since its computational model is similar to standard neural models, it could serve as a computational accelerator for research projects in the field of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, including biomedical applications. However, in order to exploit this new generation of computer chips, we ought to perform rigorous simulation and consequent validation of neuromorphic models against their conventional implementations. In this work, we lay out the numeric groundwork to enable a comparison between neuromorphic and conventional platforms. "Loihi"-Intel's fifth generation neuromorphic chip, which is based on the idea of Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) emulating the activity of neurons in the brain, serves as our neuromorphic platform. The work here focuses on Leaky Integrate and Fire (LIF) models based on neurons in the mouse primary visual cortex and matched to a rich data set of anatomical, physiological and behavioral constraints. Simulations on classical hardware serve as the validation platform for the neuromorphic implementation. We find that Loihi replicates classical simulations very efficiently with high precision. As a by-product, we also investigate Loihi's potential in terms of scalability and performance and find that it scales notably well in terms of run-time performance as the simulated networks become larger.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srijanie Dey
- Department of Mathematics, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, United States
| | - Alexander Dimitrov
- Department of Mathematics, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, United States
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Albers J, Pronold J, Kurth AC, Vennemo SB, Haghighi Mood K, Patronis A, Terhorst D, Jordan J, Kunkel S, Tetzlaff T, Diesmann M, Senk J. A Modular Workflow for Performance Benchmarking of Neuronal Network Simulations. Front Neuroinform 2022; 16:837549. [PMID: 35645755 PMCID: PMC9131021 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2022.837549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern computational neuroscience strives to develop complex network models to explain dynamics and function of brains in health and disease. This process goes hand in hand with advancements in the theory of neuronal networks and increasing availability of detailed anatomical data on brain connectivity. Large-scale models that study interactions between multiple brain areas with intricate connectivity and investigate phenomena on long time scales such as system-level learning require progress in simulation speed. The corresponding development of state-of-the-art simulation engines relies on information provided by benchmark simulations which assess the time-to-solution for scientifically relevant, complementary network models using various combinations of hardware and software revisions. However, maintaining comparability of benchmark results is difficult due to a lack of standardized specifications for measuring the scaling performance of simulators on high-performance computing (HPC) systems. Motivated by the challenging complexity of benchmarking, we define a generic workflow that decomposes the endeavor into unique segments consisting of separate modules. As a reference implementation for the conceptual workflow, we develop beNNch: an open-source software framework for the configuration, execution, and analysis of benchmarks for neuronal network simulations. The framework records benchmarking data and metadata in a unified way to foster reproducibility. For illustration, we measure the performance of various versions of the NEST simulator across network models with different levels of complexity on a contemporary HPC system, demonstrating how performance bottlenecks can be identified, ultimately guiding the development toward more efficient simulation technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasper Albers
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- *Correspondence: Jasper Albers
| | - Jari Pronold
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Anno Christopher Kurth
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Stine Brekke Vennemo
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | | | - Alexander Patronis
- Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Dennis Terhorst
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Jakob Jordan
- Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Susanne Kunkel
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Tom Tetzlaff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Markus Diesmann
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- Department of Physics, Faculty 1, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Johanna Senk
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
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12
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Peres L, Rhodes O. Parallelization of Neural Processing on Neuromorphic Hardware. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:867027. [PMID: 35620669 PMCID: PMC9128596 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.867027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning and development in real brains typically happens over long timescales, making long-term exploration of these features a significant research challenge. One way to address this problem is to use computational models to explore the brain, with Spiking Neural Networks a popular choice to capture neuron and synapse dynamics. However, researchers require simulation tools and platforms to execute simulations in real- or sub-realtime, to enable exploration of features such as long-term learning and neural pathologies over meaningful periods. This article presents novel multicore processing strategies on the SpiNNaker Neuromorphic hardware, addressing parallelization of Spiking Neural Network operations through allocation of dedicated computational units to specific tasks (such as neural and synaptic processing) to optimize performance. The work advances previous real-time simulations of a cortical microcircuit model, parameterizing load balancing between computational units in order to explore trade-offs between computational complexity and speed, to provide the best fit for a given application. By exploiting the flexibility of the SpiNNaker Neuromorphic platform, up to 9× throughput of neural operations is demonstrated when running biologically representative Spiking Neural Networks.
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Amunts K, DeFelipe J, Pennartz C, Destexhe A, Migliore M, Ryvlin P, Furber S, Knoll A, Bitsch L, Bjaalie JG, Ioannidis Y, Lippert T, Sanchez-Vives MV, Goebel R, Jirsa V. Linking Brain Structure, Activity, and Cognitive Function through Computation. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0316-21.2022. [PMID: 35217544 PMCID: PMC8925650 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0316-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the human brain is a "Grand Challenge" for 21st century research. Computational approaches enable large and complex datasets to be addressed efficiently, supported by artificial neural networks, modeling and simulation. Dynamic generative multiscale models, which enable the investigation of causation across scales and are guided by principles and theories of brain function, are instrumental for linking brain structure and function. An example of a resource enabling such an integrated approach to neuroscientific discovery is the BigBrain, which spatially anchors tissue models and data across different scales and ensures that multiscale models are supported by the data, making the bridge to both basic neuroscience and medicine. Research at the intersection of neuroscience, computing and robotics has the potential to advance neuro-inspired technologies by taking advantage of a growing body of insights into perception, plasticity and learning. To render data, tools and methods, theories, basic principles and concepts interoperable, the Human Brain Project (HBP) has launched EBRAINS, a digital neuroscience research infrastructure, which brings together a transdisciplinary community of researchers united by the quest to understand the brain, with fascinating insights and perspectives for societal benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Amunts
- Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich 52425, Germany
- C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf 40225, Germany
| | - Javier DeFelipe
- Laboratorio Cajal de Circuitos Corticales, Centro de Tecnología Biomédica, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid 28223, Spain
- Instituto Cajal, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid 28002, Spain
| | - Cyriel Pennartz
- Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1098 XH, The Netherlands
| | - Alain Destexhe
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institute of Neuroscience (NeuroPSI), Paris-Saclay University, Gif sur Yvette 91400, France
| | - Michele Migliore
- Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Palermo 90146, Italy
| | - Philippe Ryvlin
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Steve Furber
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - Alois Knoll
- Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Garching 385748, Germany
| | - Lise Bitsch
- The Danish Board of Technology Foundation, Copenhagen, 2650 Hvidovre, Denmark
| | - Jan G Bjaalie
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Yannis Ioannidis
- ATHENA Research & Innovation Center, Athena 12125, Greece
- Department of Informatics & Telecom, Nat'l and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 84 Athens, Greece
| | - Thomas Lippert
- Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich 52425, Germany
| | - Maria V Sanchez-Vives
- ICREA and Systems Neuroscience, Institute of Biomedical Investigations August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona 08036, Spain
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6229 EV, The Netherlands
| | - Viktor Jirsa
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS) UMR1106, Marseille 13005, France
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14
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Yang L, Zhang H, Luo T, Qu C, Aung MTL, Cui Y, Zhou J, Wong MM, Pu J, Do AT, Goh RSM, Wong WF. Coreset: Hierarchical neuromorphic computing supporting large-scale neural networks with improved resource efficiency. Neurocomputing 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2021.12.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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15
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Heittmann A, Psychou G, Trensch G, Cox CE, Wilcke WW, Diesmann M, Noll TG. Simulating the Cortical Microcircuit Significantly Faster Than Real Time on the IBM INC-3000 Neural Supercomputer. Front Neurosci 2022; 15:728460. [PMID: 35126034 PMCID: PMC8811464 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.728460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This article employs the new IBM INC-3000 prototype FPGA-based neural supercomputer to implement a widely used model of the cortical microcircuit. With approximately 80,000 neurons and 300 Million synapses this model has become a benchmark network for comparing simulation architectures with regard to performance. To the best of our knowledge, the achieved speed-up factor is 2.4 times larger than the highest speed-up factor reported in the literature and four times larger than biological real time demonstrating the potential of FPGA systems for neural modeling. The work was performed at Jülich Research Centre in Germany and the INC-3000 was built at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA, United States. For the simulation of the microcircuit only the programmable logic part of the FPGA nodes are used. All arithmetic is implemented with single-floating point precision. The original microcircuit network with linear LIF neurons and current-based exponential-decay-, alpha-function- as well as beta-function-shaped synapses was simulated using exact exponential integration as ODE solver method. In order to demonstrate the flexibility of the approach, additionally networks with non-linear neuron models (AdEx, Izhikevich) and conductance-based synapses were simulated, applying Runge–Kutta and Parker–Sochacki solver methods. In all cases, the simulation-time speed-up factor did not decrease by more than a very few percent. It finally turns out that the speed-up factor is essentially limited by the latency of the INC-3000 communication system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arne Heittmann
- JARA-Institute Green IT (PGI-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- *Correspondence: Arne Heittmann,
| | - Georgia Psychou
- JARA-Institute Green IT (PGI-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Guido Trensch
- Simulation and Data Laboratory Neuroscience, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Institute for Advanced Simulation, Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Charles E. Cox
- IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA, United States
| | - Winfried W. Wilcke
- IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA, United States
| | - Markus Diesmann
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6), Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6), and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- Department of Physics, Faculty 1, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Tobias G. Noll
- JARA-Institute Green IT (PGI-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
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16
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Dasbach S, Tetzlaff T, Diesmann M, Senk J. Dynamical Characteristics of Recurrent Neuronal Networks Are Robust Against Low Synaptic Weight Resolution. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:757790. [PMID: 35002599 PMCID: PMC8740282 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.757790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The representation of the natural-density, heterogeneous connectivity of neuronal network models at relevant spatial scales remains a challenge for Computational Neuroscience and Neuromorphic Computing. In particular, the memory demands imposed by the vast number of synapses in brain-scale network simulations constitute a major obstacle. Limiting the number resolution of synaptic weights appears to be a natural strategy to reduce memory and compute load. In this study, we investigate the effects of a limited synaptic-weight resolution on the dynamics of recurrent spiking neuronal networks resembling local cortical circuits and develop strategies for minimizing deviations from the dynamics of networks with high-resolution synaptic weights. We mimic the effect of a limited synaptic weight resolution by replacing normally distributed synaptic weights with weights drawn from a discrete distribution, and compare the resulting statistics characterizing firing rates, spike-train irregularity, and correlation coefficients with the reference solution. We show that a naive discretization of synaptic weights generally leads to a distortion of the spike-train statistics. If the weights are discretized such that the mean and the variance of the total synaptic input currents are preserved, the firing statistics remain unaffected for the types of networks considered in this study. For networks with sufficiently heterogeneous in-degrees, the firing statistics can be preserved even if all synaptic weights are replaced by the mean of the weight distribution. We conclude that even for simple networks with non-plastic neurons and synapses, a discretization of synaptic weights can lead to substantial deviations in the firing statistics unless the discretization is performed with care and guided by a rigorous validation process. For the network model used in this study, the synaptic weights can be replaced by low-resolution weights without affecting its macroscopic dynamical characteristics, thereby saving substantial amounts of memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Dasbach
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Tom Tetzlaff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Markus Diesmann
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- Department of Physics, Faculty 1, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Johanna Senk
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
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17
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Bogdan PA, Marcinnò B, Casellato C, Casali S, Rowley AGD, Hopkins M, Leporati F, D'Angelo E, Rhodes O. Towards a Bio-Inspired Real-Time Neuromorphic Cerebellum. Front Cell Neurosci 2021; 15:622870. [PMID: 34135732 PMCID: PMC8202688 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2021.622870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
This work presents the first simulation of a large-scale, bio-physically constrained cerebellum model performed on neuromorphic hardware. A model containing 97,000 neurons and 4.2 million synapses is simulated on the SpiNNaker neuromorphic system. Results are validated against a baseline simulation of the same model executed with NEST, a popular spiking neural network simulator using generic computational resources and double precision floating point arithmetic. Individual cell and network-level spiking activity is validated in terms of average spike rates, relative lead or lag of spike times, and membrane potential dynamics of individual neurons, and SpiNNaker is shown to produce results in agreement with NEST. Once validated, the model is used to investigate how to accelerate the simulation speed of the network on the SpiNNaker system, with the future goal of creating a real-time neuromorphic cerebellum. Through detailed communication profiling, peak network activity is identified as one of the main challenges for simulation speed-up. Propagation of spiking activity through the network is measured, and will inform the future development of accelerated execution strategies for cerebellum models on neuromorphic hardware. The large ratio of granule cells to other cell types in the model results in high levels of activity converging onto few cells, with those cells having relatively larger time costs associated with the processing of communication. Organizing cells on SpiNNaker in accordance with their spatial position is shown to reduce the peak communication load by 41%. It is hoped that these insights, together with alternative parallelization strategies, will pave the way for real-time execution of large-scale, bio-physically constrained cerebellum models on SpiNNaker. This in turn will enable exploration of cerebellum-inspired controllers for neurorobotic applications, and execution of extended duration simulations over timescales that would currently be prohibitive using conventional computational platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petruţ A Bogdan
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Beatrice Marcinnò
- Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Claudia Casellato
- Neurophysiology Unit, Neurocomputational Laboratory, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Stefano Casali
- Neurophysiology Unit, Neurocomputational Laboratory, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Andrew G D Rowley
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Hopkins
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Francesco Leporati
- Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Egidio D'Angelo
- Neurophysiology Unit, Neurocomputational Laboratory, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.,IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
| | - Oliver Rhodes
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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18
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Knight JC, Komissarov A, Nowotny T. PyGeNN: A Python Library for GPU-Enhanced Neural Networks. Front Neuroinform 2021; 15:659005. [PMID: 33967731 PMCID: PMC8100330 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2021.659005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
More than half of the Top 10 supercomputing sites worldwide use GPU accelerators and they are becoming ubiquitous in workstations and edge computing devices. GeNN is a C++ library for generating efficient spiking neural network simulation code for GPUs. However, until now, the full flexibility of GeNN could only be harnessed by writing model descriptions and simulation code in C++. Here we present PyGeNN, a Python package which exposes all of GeNN's functionality to Python with minimal overhead. This provides an alternative, arguably more user-friendly, way of using GeNN and allows modelers to use GeNN within the growing Python-based machine learning and computational neuroscience ecosystems. In addition, we demonstrate that, in both Python and C++ GeNN simulations, the overheads of recording spiking data can strongly affect runtimes and show how a new spike recording system can reduce these overheads by up to 10×. Using the new recording system, we demonstrate that by using PyGeNN on a modern GPU, we can simulate a full-scale model of a cortical column faster even than real-time neuromorphic systems. Finally, we show that long simulations of a smaller model with complex stimuli and a custom three-factor learning rule defined in PyGeNN can be simulated almost two orders of magnitude faster than real-time.
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Affiliation(s)
- James C. Knight
- Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Anton Komissarov
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Engineering and Computer Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Nowotny
- Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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19
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Tieck JCV, Secker K, Kaiser J, Roennau A, Dillmann R. Soft-Grasping With an Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand Using Spiking Neurons. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2021. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2020.3034067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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20
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Knight JC, Nowotny T. Larger GPU-accelerated brain simulations with procedural connectivity. NATURE COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE 2021; 1:136-142. [PMID: 38217218 DOI: 10.1038/s43588-020-00022-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2024]
Abstract
Simulations are an important tool for investigating brain function but large models are needed to faithfully reproduce the statistics and dynamics of brain activity. Simulating large spiking neural network models has, until now, needed so much memory for storing synaptic connections that it required high performance computer systems. Here, we present an alternative simulation method we call 'procedural connectivity' where connectivity and synaptic weights are generated 'on the fly' instead of stored and retrieved from memory. This method is particularly well suited for use on graphical processing units (GPUs)-which are a common fixture in many workstations. Using procedural connectivity and an additional GPU code generation optimization, we can simulate a recent model of the macaque visual cortex with 4.13 × 106 neurons and 24.2 × 109 synapses on a single GPU-a significant step forward in making large-scale brain modeling accessible to more researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- James C Knight
- Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
| | - Thomas Nowotny
- Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
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21
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Haessig G, Milde MB, Aceituno PV, Oubari O, Knight JC, van Schaik A, Benosman RB, Indiveri G. Event-Based Computation for Touch Localization Based on Precise Spike Timing. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:420. [PMID: 32528239 PMCID: PMC7248403 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2019] [Accepted: 04/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Precise spike timing and temporal coding are used extensively within the nervous system of insects and in the sensory periphery of higher order animals. However, conventional Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and machine learning algorithms cannot take advantage of this coding strategy, due to their rate-based representation of signals. Even in the case of artificial Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs), identifying applications where temporal coding outperforms the rate coding strategies of ANNs is still an open challenge. Neuromorphic sensory-processing systems provide an ideal context for exploring the potential advantages of temporal coding, as they are able to efficiently extract the information required to cluster or classify spatio-temporal activity patterns from relative spike timing. Here we propose a neuromorphic model inspired by the sand scorpion to explore the benefits of temporal coding, and validate it in an event-based sensory-processing task. The task consists in localizing a target using only the relative spike timing of eight spatially-separated vibration sensors. We propose two different approaches in which the SNNs learns to cluster spatio-temporal patterns in an unsupervised manner and we demonstrate how the task can be solved both analytically and through numerical simulation of multiple SNN models. We argue that the models presented are optimal for spatio-temporal pattern classification using precise spike timing in a task that could be used as a standard benchmark for evaluating event-based sensory processing models based on temporal coding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Germain Haessig
- Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Moritz B Milde
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
| | - Pau Vilimelis Aceituno
- Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Omar Oubari
- Institut de la Vision, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - James C Knight
- Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - André van Schaik
- International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems, MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
| | - Ryad B Benosman
- Institut de la Vision, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.,University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.,Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Giacomo Indiveri
- Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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