Giacomo Indiveri, Institute for Neuroinformatics, ETH/UZ, Gloriastr32, CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland.
In this paper we present an analog VLSI architecture that implements a functional model of the locust DCMD neuron, based on recently published results. We describe its architecture and the novel analog circuits that implement its critical computational modules. We also provide an analytical closed-form solution for some of the circuits proposed and verify the validity of our analysis both through circuit simulations and experimental results. This work shows that the circuits in the device here proposed can be used to build hardware models of the DCMD, thus allowing neurophysiologists to test different hypotheses by measuring simultaneously the responses of both biological system and neuromorphic system (of which we would have complete control).