Milking a spherical cow: Toy models in neuroscience

There are many different kinds of models, and they play many different roles in the scientific endeavour. Neuroscience, and biology more generally, has understandably tended to emphasise empirical models that are grounded in data and make specific, experimentally testable predictions. Meanwhile, str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European journal of neuroscience 2024-11, Vol.60 (10), p.6359-6374
Main Authors: Beer, Randall D, Barwich, Ann-Sophie, Severino, Gabriel J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Humans
Models, Neurological
Nervous system
Neurosciences - methods
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Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:There are many different kinds of models, and they play many different roles in the scientific endeavour. Neuroscience, and biology more generally, has understandably tended to emphasise empirical models that are grounded in data and make specific, experimentally testable predictions. Meanwhile, strongly idealised or 'toy' models have played a central role in the theoretical development of other sciences such as physics. In this paper, we examine the nature of toy models and their prospects in neuroscience.
ISSN:0953-816X
1460-9568
1460-9568
DOI:10.1111/ejn.16529