Modeling neural data

The topic of models in neuroscience is far too broad to do more than scratch the surface here. Beyond biophysically detailed models of neuronal activity and more abstracted models of computation in neural circuits, there are “as-if” process models that attempt to capture phenomena without necessarily aiming for biological plausibility and statistically-inspired models that look to explain variation in neural data in terms of a smaller or simpler subset of variables.

In this chapter, we’ll look at a few examples of the latter classes of models. Our focus will be on conceptual understanding rather than on state-of-the-art practice.