Analog VLSI Model of Intersegmental Coordination with Nearest-Neighbor Coupling

Part of Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 10 (NIPS 1997)

Bibtex Metadata Paper

Authors

Girish Patel, Jeremy Holleman, Stephen DeWeerth

Abstract

We have a developed an analog VLSI system that models the coordina(cid:173) tion of neurobiological segmental oscillators. We have implemented and tested a system that consists of a chain of eleven pattern generating cir(cid:173) cuits that are synaptically coupled to their nearest neighbors. Each pat(cid:173) tern generating circuit is implemented with two silicon Morris-Lecar neurons that are connected in a reciprocally inhibitory network. We dis(cid:173) cuss the mechanisms of oscillations in the two-cell network and explore system behavior based on isotropic and anisotropic coupling, and fre(cid:173) quency gradients along the chain of oscillators.