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NEST: The Neural Simulation Tool

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Synonyms

NEST; Neural Simulation Tool; SYNOD

Definition

NEST, the Neural Simulation Tool, is optimized for large networks of spiking model neurons. NEST includes a wide range of neuron and synapse models and provides high-level commands to create spatially structured networks. NEST is controlled through a Python-based interface and supports parallel simulation. NEST is available from www.nest-simulator.org under a GNU Public License.

Detailed Description

NEST is optimized for networks of neurons whose subthreshold dynamics can be described by a small number of differential equations. By default, NEST simulations operate on a fixed time grid. However, NEST also supports precisely timed spikes (Morrison et al. 2007b; Krishnan et al. 2018), combining the precision of event-driven simulators (Henker et al. 2012) with the efficiency of grid-based simulation. Furthermore, NEST allows the simulation of neurons coupled by gap junctions (Hahne et al. 2015) and of networks of rate-based neurons...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Hans Ekkehard Plesser

  2. Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany

    Hans Ekkehard Plesser, Markus Diesmann & Abigail Morrison

  3. Institute for Advance Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA-Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany

    Markus Diesmann & Abigail Morrison

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, and Department of Physics, Faculty 1, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Markus Diesmann

  5. Blue Brain Project, École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Marc-Oliver Gewaltig

  6. Simulation Laboratory Neuroscience, Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany

    Abigail Morrison

  7. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Abigail Morrison

Authors
  1. Hans Ekkehard Plesser
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  2. Markus Diesmann
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  3. Marc-Oliver Gewaltig
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  4. Abigail Morrison
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans Ekkehard Plesser .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, GA, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Ranu Jung

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK

    Padraig Gleeson

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Plesser, H.E., Diesmann, M., Gewaltig, MO., Morrison, A. (2019). NEST: The Neural Simulation Tool. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_258-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_258-6

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    NEST: The Neural Simulation Tool
    Published:
    29 October 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_258-6

  2. Original

    NEST: The Neural Simulation Tool
    Published:
    18 April 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_258-5