Computer Methods for Physiological Problems

描述(申请人提供)：解剖学和膜生物物理学对神经元和神经回路功能的贡献通过计算机模拟得到了最好的理解。神经元是我们为MacOS、MSWindows和Unix免费开发和提供的一个程序，它简化了非专业人士在数值方法和编程方面的神经模型的创建和分析。它可以模拟单个神经元和神经元网络，其特性包括但不限于复杂的分支形态、多种通道类型、不均匀的通道分布、离子扩散、细胞外场、电子仪器和人造尖峰神经元。神经元被世界各地的神经科学家用来检查受癫痫、多发性硬化症和学习记忆障碍等疾病影响的细胞和网络机制。 为了继续满足神经科学研究不断发展的要求，神经元必须在几个关键领域继续发展。需要使用现有的Neuron+Java接口来快速开发高度多样化、特定于领域的图形用户界面工具。将工作站集群资源应用于优化问题需要像按下按钮一样简单。全局和局部变时间步长方法极大地扩展了可行模拟的类别，通常具有极大的速度提高。必须增强分析工具，以便人们无需编程即可使用这些方法。 要最大限度地发挥这些增强对神经科学研究的有益影响，就需要传播神经元和用它构建的模型。从物理系统到概念模型再到仿真实例的转换通常需要实验和计算神经学家之间的合作。为此，我们将通过个人协作、短期课程、撰写文章以及以传统和数字格式创建新的文档和教程等活动，为用户提供支持。用户在组织模型以供其他人有效使用方面也需要帮助，这对于交流和成果的再现性是不可或缺的。该项目的这一方面将采用通过人脑项目等其他倡议开发的数据库基础设施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The contributions of anatomy and membrane biophysics to the function of neurons and neural circuits are best understood with the aid of computer simulations. NEURON, a program that we have developed and provide freely for MacOS, MSWindows, and UNIX, has simplified the creation and analysis of neural models for nonspecialists in numerical methods and programming. It can simulate individual neurons and networks of neurons whose properties include, but are not limited to, complex branching morphology, multiple channel types, inhomogeneous channel distribution, ionic diffusion, extracellular fields, electronic instrumentation, and artificial spiking neurons. NEURON is used by neuroscientists around the world to examine cellular and network mechanisms that are affected by diseases such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and disorders of learning and memory. To continue to satisfy the evolving requirements of neuroscience research, NEURON must continue to develop in several critical areas. The existing NEURON+Java interface needs to be used for rapid development of highly diverse, domain-specific GUI tools. Application of workstation cluster resources to optimization problems needs to be as simple as a button press. The global and local variable time step methods have tremendously expanded the class of feasible simulations, often with greatly increased speed. Analysis tools must be augmented so that people can use those methods without programming. Maximizing the beneficial impact of these enhancements on neuroscience research requires dissemination of NEURON and the models that are constructed with it. Translation from physical system to conceptual model to simulation instance often requires collaboration between experimental and computational neuroscientists. To this end, we will provide user support through activities such as personal collaborations, short courses, writing articles, and creating new documentation and tutorials in traditional and digital formats. Users also need help in organizing models for effective use by others, which is indispensable for communication and reproducibility of results. This aspect of the project will employ database infrastructures developed through other initiatives such as the Human Brain Project.