Application of a “Staggered Walk” Algorithm for Generating Large-Scale Morphological Neuronal Networks

Abstract EN

Large-scale models of neuronal structures are needed to explore emergent properties of mammalian brains.

Because these models have trillions of synapses, a major problem in their creation is synapse placement.

Here we present a novel method for exploiting consistent fiber orientation in a neural tissue to perform a highly efficient modified plane-sweep algorithm, which identifies all regions of 3D overlaps between dendritic and axonal projection fields.

The first step in placing synapses in physiological models is neurite-overlap detection, at large scales a computationally intensive task.

We have developed an efficient “Staggered Walk” algorithm that can find all 3D overlaps of neurites where trillions of synapses connect billions of neurons.