Introduction

BlenderNEURON is a software tool that enables to use Blender, an open-source high-performance 3D modeling tool to visualize and edit models built with NEURON simulator.

Features

• NEURON models can be in any format (HOC or Python)
• Cell/Network morphology inspection
• Membrane potential (or any other membrane variable) visualization over time
• Replay, step-through, scrubbing through simulation output
• Adjustable level of detail (supports single cell or large network models)
• Render as static images or video files
• Blender files can be uploaded and shared on Sketchfab
• Python API to automate any task

Projects Using BlenderNEURON

• NeuroML-DB.org
• Biophysically Realistic Model of the Olfactory Bulb

Developers

• Justas Birgiolas Ph.D.
• Arizona State University ICON Lab

Sponsors

• National Institutes of Health
• Institute for Conscious Automaton Research

Architecture

The tool consists of two parts:

1. The Python library, which runs inside NEURON
2. The Blender Addon, which runs inside Blender

These two parts exchange information and allow importing/exporting models between NEURON and Blender.