Event-Scheduling Algorithms with Kalikow Decomposition for Simulating Potentially Infinite Neuronal Networks

Event-scheduling algorithms can compute in continuous time the next occurrence of points (as events) of a counting process based on their current conditional intensity. In particular, event-scheduling algorithms can be adapted to perform the simulation of finite neuronal networks activity. These algorithms are based on Ogata’s thinning strategy (Ogata in IEEE Trans Inf Theory 27:23–31, 1981), which always needs to simulate the whole network to access the behavior of one particular neuron of the network. On the other hand, for discrete time models, theoretical algorithms based on Kalikow decomposition can pick at random influencing neurons and perform a perfect simulation (meaning without approximations) of the behavior of one given neuron embedded in an infinite network, at every time step. These algorithms are currently not computationally tractable in continuous time. To solve this problem, an event-scheduling algorithm with Kalikow decomposition is proposed here for the sequential simulation of point processes neuronal models satisfying this decomposition. This new algorithm is applied to infinite neuronal networks whose finite time simulation is a prerequisite to realistic brain modeling.