The Brian simulator

TLDR

Brian is a simulator for spiking neural networks. The goal is to make writing simulation code quick, easy, and flexible, so that new and non‑standard models are as simple to define as standard ones. Brian is a Python-based simulator that lets users define neuron models with differential equations in standard notation and run efficient, vectorized simulations, emphasizing rapid, flexible coding. Users can devote more time to model details rather than implementation, making Brian especially useful for systems‑level neuroscience research and teaching.

Abstract

"Brian" is a simulator for spiking neural networks (http://www.briansimulator.org). The focus is on making the writing of simulation code as quick and easy as possible for the user, and on flexibility: new and non-standard models are no more difficult to define than standard ones. This allows scientists to spend more time on the details of their models, and less on their implementation. Neuron models are defined by writing differential equations in standard mathematical notation, facilitating scientific communication. Brian is written in the Python programming language, and uses vector-based computation to allow for efficient simulations. It is particularly useful for neuroscientific modelling at the systems level, and for teaching computational neuroscience.