The Spike Activity of Neocortical Columns: A Dynamical Systems
Analysis

I shall begin by briefly introducing the field of computational
neuroscience, following which I shall present an abstract dynamical
system for networks of spiking neurons that is formulated based on a
general model of the biological neuron. I shall then present some
simulation as well as analytical results for the class of
instantiations of the system that model typical neocortical columns.
Based on these results I shall argue that the spike activity of
neocortical columns is profoundly influenced by attractors that are
not only almost surely chaotic but are also potentially anisotropic.
Finally, I shall discuss open problems in the field.