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.

• Alistair Peet

• 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.