Implementation of multilayer perceptron networks by populations of spiking neurons using rate coding

In this paper we consider the biological plausibility of perceptron networks. We identify problems that arise if one tries to model form processing in visual cortex with a perceptron network. We conclude that a perceptron's activity corresponds to a population firing rate and that serious rate problems can be avoided if the squashing function maps zero input on zero output. Typically, such squashing functions are anti-symmetric, We present a circuit with a perceptron-like behavior, which provides an elegant interpretation for the negative perceptron activities that these functions entail. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.