The Logistic Model in Firing Rate Models of Neural Population Behavior

Bruno Averbeck visited the Kaplan lab last Thursday. In addition to a nice lunch at
Peri Ela we spent an hour discussing the merits of different quantiative definitions of complexity as applied to the nervous system. For my simulations I prefer Poisson neurons modified to have an absolute and relative refractory period. He suggested that I try his favored model- the logistic equation. I encountered this first in a Paninski lab paper where they discuss the utility of generalized linear models in decoding neural stimuli. Setting aside the technical difficulties of estimating the parameters of a generalized linear model from data, one can, in reverse, use the model to simulate that activity of a group of neurons and specify the pairwise correlations therein.