Computing and Learning with Spiking Neurons (FWF)

This Research Project compared traditional models for "artificial neural networks" with biologically more realistic models for neurons and synapses. There exist significant differences between these two types of models, especially since biological neurons encode their output in the form of brief electrical pulses ("spikes"), and since biological synapses change their "weight" on a very fast time scale in dependence of the spike pattern that has previously reached them. This Research Project developed models for information processing with these more realistic types of neurons and synapses, thereby building a foundation for a new generation of neural networks models. Most of the research results form this project are online available (http://www.igi.TUGraz.at/maass/publications.html, and publications on http://www.igi.tugraz.at/tnatschl/, http://www.igi.tugraz.at/legi/). In addition some of them were also described in popular science articles (http://www.igi.tugraz.at/maass/nonexperts.html).