1. High-Resolution Simulation of Biological Neural Networks
Simulations of Cortical Slow Waves and Transition toward Awake States and of the interplay between sleep and memory consolidation and memory homeostasis in the HBP (- until 2023)
and Prototyping of Brain-Inspired Multi-area Associative Recurrent Deep-Learning
and
Architecture Benchmark for ExaNest project and
follow-up EuroExa project ( )
EuroExa
Pier Stanislao Paolucci
for the APE parallel/distributed computing lab - INFN Roma
Application used by WaveScalES team (INFN, IDIBAPS, UNIMI, IBEC, ISS)
Benchmarks of EXANEST project (and of follow-up project)

2. Computational Needs / Year
High-Resolution Simulation of Biological Neural Networks / Associative Recurrent Deep-Learning
2018, 2019, 2020
4.0, 6.0, 8.0 Million core hours / year
(ref GHz)
Typical conf for production runs:
cores
0.6 – 4.8 TB memory
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

3. INFN Status on High. Res. Sim. Of Neural Nets
Efficient simulation of tens of billions of synapses, projected by grids of columns of point spiking neurons, distributed on thousands of hardware cores and software processes.
Study of hardware and software technologies for neural simulations
The APE parallel computing lab. of INFN
On proprietary DPSNN (Distributed Plastic
Spiking Net Simulator) to be ported to
HBP research
infrastructure
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

4. Backup material

5. WaveScalES in the HBP
Towards a multi-scale perturbational atlas of the cerebral cortex. Linking the macro (TMS/EEG) to the microscale (cortical slices) through simultaneous recording of hd-EEG and Stereo-EEG responses to intracortical stimulation
Photostimulation and photoinhibition of slow-wave activity by light-regulated ligands of neuronal receptors
Multiscale theory/model of cortical dynamics of slow-waves. Matching theory and simulations with experiments
Parallel simulations
Maria Victoria
Sanchez-Vives
Marcello
Massimini
Pau
Gorostiza
Maurizio
Mattia
Pier Stanislao
Paolucci
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

6. Experimental components
Perturb and measure at several spatio-temporal scales using multiple methodologies
Novel photostimulation and photoinibition tools based on small molecules
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

7. Matching Experiments and Theory through High-resolution Simulations
Meso-Macroscale
Micro-Mesoscale
Experiments
Theory and simulations
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

8. High-resolution Fast Cortical Simulations Parallelized on Thousands of Processors
WaveScalES models of cortical slow-waves and awakening: single and multiple area, tens of billions of synapses, projected by grids of layered columns, point spiking neurons, distributed on thousands of hardware cores, STDP and LTP/LTD
Cooperation between SP3 and SP7
(exchange of requisites, specific developments, reciprocal support)
to port WaveScalES models from DPSNN
research
community
SP3 – WP2 DPSNN sim. engine (INFN/ISS):
fast, scalable, no user-interface, model specific optimizations
hardware/software co-design tool and application benchmark
SP7 – NEST Platform:
configurable, user friendly, large user community, multiple execution platforms, multiple models, scalable
The APE parallel comp. lab. of Italian INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
In cooperation
with
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

9. Collaboration with NEST
Experiments
on human
on mouse
NEST Requirements Management
Perturbative
Models
DPSNN
Multi-scale software model of cortical SW and transition to consciousness states
Plasticity
Models
Theory
NEST simulator
Stimulation-Recording
Connectivity Tools
Multi-area
Single-area non-laminar
Single-area laminar
Neuro-modulated Plastic
NEST Support for Modellers
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

10. Three simulation models for cortical SW and transition to AW states
Single-area non-laminar model
Two-dimensional grid of cortical modules of point-like neurons (LIF model variant with spike frequency adaptation / Izhikevich model) interconnected with probability laws depending on distance and source-target population kinds
Single-area laminar model
Two-dimensional grid of cortical modules with laminar structure, accounting for the different properties of the cortical layers (neural dynamics, connections, synaptic weights, etc.)
Neuromodulated Plasticity model
Model incorporating neuromodulated STDP, LTP/LTD, to investigate the role of deep sleep in memory consolidation and synaptic homeostasis
Multi-area model
Single cortical areas connected using low-complexity (effective/resting states) connectivity matrixes
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

11. Conclusion
WaveScalES: models of deep-sleep and transition to awakeness
Single-area non-laminar
Single-area laminar
Multi-area
Neuromodulated STDP, LTP/LTD
Tight collaboration with NEST and NESTML teams for requirements fulfilment
New models for neurons, probability kernels functions, stimulus, observables, etc.
WaveScalES models initially prototyped using the proprietary DPSNN engine, eventually ported to NEST and offered to HBP community
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016

12. WaveScalES: Long Term Impact
Societal long-term impact
Better management of:
sleep disorders
anaesthesia
memory disorders
degenerative disorders
epilepsy
Technological impact areas
photostimulation tools
HBP data-bases of measures
brain simulation software and hardware interconnect on large scale parallel computers
Scientific objective
- Better understanding of the cortical organization starting from a detailed comprehension of its lowest complexity state and of the initial phases of transition to higher states of consciousness
- Brain inspired Software and Hardware innovations of simulation systems
3-4 November 2016
NEST User Workshop 2016