PathwayAssist is available for commercial licensing from Ariadne Genomics, Inc. The light version with limited functionality will be available for free for academic users at www.ariadnegenomics.com/downloads/.

MedScan is available for commercial licensing from Ariadne Genomics, Inc.

The sigmoidal tuning curve that maximizes the mutual information for a Poisson neuron, or population of Poisson neurons, is obtained. The optimal tuning curve is found to have a discrete structure that results in a quantization of the input signal. The number of quantization levels undergoes a hierarchy of phase transitions as the length of the coding window is varied. We postulate, using the mammalian auditory system as an example, that the presence of a subpopulation structure within a neural population is consistent with an optimal neural code.

We study a system of two-mode stochastic oscillators coupled through their collective output. As a function of a relevant parameter four qualitatively distinct regimes of collective behavior are observed. In an extended region of the parameter space the periodicity of the collective output is enhanced by the considered coupling. This system can be used as a new model to describe synchronization-like phenomena in systems of units with two or more oscillation modes. The model can also explain how periodic dynamics can be generated by coupling largely stochastic units. Similar systems could be responsible for the emergence of rhythmic behavior in complex biological or sociological systems.