Neuron Models: Human Cortical – “Aberra” Dataset

The “Aberra” model collection consists of 25 highly detailed, biophysically realistic computational models of human cortical pyramidal neurons. These models are identical to those introduced by Aberra et al. [1] publicly available via the ModelDB [2]. Originally developed by the Blue Brain Project [3,4] to simulate mouse neocortical circuits, these models have been expertly adapted to reflect human neuronal morphology and electrophysiology. They are compatible with Yale’s NEURON simulation environment. To facilitate broader usability, also with Sim4Life, the models have been lightly modified for full compatibility with Sim4Life (ZMT ZurichMedTech AG, Zurich, Switzerland). These edits enable applications that involve the modeling of low-frequency electromagnetic (LF-EM) field interactions with single neurons — as relevant, e.g., when studying bioelectronic medicine and neurostimulation technologies such as:

• Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
• Temporal Interference Stimulation (TIS)
• Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)

Each model includes:

• Realistic dendritic arborizations
• Myelinated and unmyelinated axons
• Associated ion channel dynamics and distributions

This dataset is ideal for researchers investigating mechanisms of interaction underlying neural activation and modulation in response to electric and magnetic fields, particularly on the single cell level.

Additional information:

All downloadable neuron models are provided within a zip container (Aberra.zip), containing single zipped files named neuronname.hocz and can be directly imported in Sim4Life (ZMT Zurich MedTech AG, Zurich, Switzerland). Despite the extension “hocz”, these files are standard zipped folder containing the full neuron model. Please check the Sim4Life Manual for further instructions.

• for questions related to the original Aberra models [1], please contact directly the authors
• for questions related to the models provided in this website, please contact support@itis.swiss
• for questions related to the use of the models within the Sim4Life platform(s), please contact support@zmt.swiss

References:

[1] Aberra AS, Peterchev AV, Grill WM. Biophysically realistic neuron models for simulation of cortical stimulation. J Neural Eng. 2018 Dec;15(6):066023

[2] https://modeldb.science/241165

[3] Markram H†, Muller E†, Ramaswamy S†, Reimann MW†, Abdellah M, Sanchez CA, Ailamaki A, Alonso-Nanclares L, Antille N, Arsever S et al. (2015). Reconstruction and Simulation of Neocortical Microcircuitry. Cell 163:2, 456 - 492. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.09.029

[4] Ramaswamy S, Courcol J-D, Abdellah M, Adaszewski SR, Antille N, Arsever S, Atenekeng G, Bilgili A, Brukau Y, Chalimourda A, Chindemi G, Delalondre F, Dumusc R, Eilemann S, Gevaert ME, Gleeson P, Graham JW, Hernando JB, Kanari L, Katkov Y, Keller D, King JG, Ranjan R, Reimann MW, Rössert C, Shi Y, Shillcock JC, Telefont M, Van Geit W, Villafranca Diaz J, Walker R, Wang Y, Zaninetta SM, DeFelipe J, Hill SL, Muller J, Segev I, Schürmann F, Muller EB and Markram H (2015). The neocortical microcircuit collaboration portal: a resource for rat somatosensory cortex. Front. Neural Circuits 9:44. doi: 10.3389/fncir.2015.00044