A quick reference guide to the naming scheme behind every blox type exported by the public Neuroblox sub-packages (NeurobloxBasics, NeurobloxDBS, NeurobloxPharma): what each name stands for (with acronyms expanded) and any literature citations that appear in the type's docstring. Start with the recurring naming tokens, which account for most of the catalog, then use the per-type tables to see how those tokens combine.
Blox fall into two families in the type hierarchy:
- Simple blox (
<: AbstractSimple) carry their own dynamics — a neuron, a neural mass, a synapse/receptor, a source or a stimulus. A subset are discrete blox (<: AbstractDiscrete), which update at events rather than through continuous differential equations. - Composite blox (
<: AbstractComposite) hold an internal GraphSystem of other blox — a circuit, network, or brain nucleus.
The Package column uses the short codes Basics (NeurobloxBasics), DBS (NeurobloxDBS), and Pharma (NeurobloxPharma). A dash (—) in the Citations column means the docstring contains no literature reference; where a model is named after its authors but the docstring gives no formal citation (notably the NeurobloxDBS _Adam blox), this is stated in the rationale rather than fabricated as a citation.
Most names are built by concatenating a small set of tokens. Expanding these once covers the majority of the catalog:
| Token | Expansion |
|---|
HH | Hodgkin–Huxley conductance-based formalism |
IF / LIF / QIF | Integrate-and-Fire / Leaky IF / Quadratic IF |
Izh | Izhikevich spiking-neuron model |
PING | Pyramidal-Interneuron Network Gamma |
NGNMM | Next-Generation Neural Mass Model (exact mean-field) |
OU | Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process |
_Noisy / _NonNoisy | stochastic (SDE) vs deterministic (ODE) variant |
Exci / Inhi | excitatory / inhibitory |
FSI / MSN (MS) | Fast-Spiking Interneuron / Medium Spiny Neuron |
TRN | Thalamic Reticular Nucleus |
Pyr | pyramidal neuron |
Glu / GABA / DA / ACh | glutamate / γ-aminobutyric acid / dopamine / acetylcholine |
AMPA(R) / NMDA(R) | AMPA / NMDA glutamate-receptor (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid / N-methyl-D-aspartate) |
nAChR | nicotinic acetylcholine receptor |
D1 / D2 | dopamine D1 / D2 receptor |
2state | two-state kinetic gating scheme |
STA | short-term augmentation |
GPe / GPi | Globus Pallidus externa / interna |
STN / SNc | Subthalamic Nucleus / Substantia Nigra pars compacta |
TAN | Tonically Active Neuron |
Nac | Nucleus Accumbens |
WTA | Winner-Take-All microcircuit |
DBS | Deep Brain Stimulation |
_Adam | parameterisation from the Adam et al. striatal/DBS model |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
IFNeuron | Basics | Integrate-and-Fire; basic Lapicque integrate-and-fire neuron | Abbott 1999, Lapicque's introduction of the integrate-and-fire model neuron |
LIFNeuron | Basics | Leaky Integrate-and-Fire, with a synaptic conductance term | Sterratt et al. 2011, Principles of Computational Modelling in Neuroscience, Ch. 8 |
QIFNeuron | Basics | Quadratic Integrate-and-Fire (quadratic voltage term) | — |
LIFExciNeuron | Basics | Leaky IF, excitatory; explicit AMPA/GABA/NMDA gating | — |
LIFInhiNeuron | Basics | Leaky IF, inhibitory; explicit AMPA/GABA gating | — |
IzhikevichNeuron | Basics | Named for E. Izhikevich; spiking neuron with recovery variable | Izhikevich 2003, Simple model of spiking neurons; Chen & Campbell 2022 |
PINGExciNeuron | Basics | Pyramidal-Interneuron Network Gamma, excitatory HH-type cell | Börgers et al. 2008 |
PINGInhiNeuron | Basics | Pyramidal-Interneuron Network Gamma, inhibitory HH-type cell | Börgers et al. 2008 |
HHExciNeuron | Pharma | Hodgkin–Huxley excitatory neuron (Na/K/leak) | Hodgkin & Huxley 1952; Pathak et al. 2025; Wang 1993 |
HHInhiNeuron | Pharma | Hodgkin–Huxley inhibitory neuron (same formalism) | Hodgkin & Huxley 1952; Pathak et al. 2025; Wang 2002 |
HHFSINeuron | Pharma | Hodgkin–Huxley Fast-Spiking Interneuron; conductances live on companion GABA_A_FSI_Synapse | — |
HHMSNeuron | Pharma | Hodgkin–Huxley Medium Spiny Neuron; adds Kir2.x inward rectifier stabilising the ~−80 mV down-state | Nisenbaum & Wilson 1995; Wolf et al. 2005; Moyer et al. 2007; Gruber et al. 2003; Steephen & Manchanda 2009 |
BaxterSensoryNeuron | Pharma | Named for Baxter & Byrne; Aplysia sensory-neuron model with PKA/PKC-dependent parameter selection | Baxter & Byrne 1999 |
TRNNeuron | Pharma | Thalamic Reticular Nucleus neuron with explicit ion-concentration dynamics, coupled to an α7-nAChR/ER-Ca module | King et al. 2017 |
MuscarinicNeuron | Pharma | TRN-style ion-conserving neuron adding a muscarinic non-specific cation current (I_NCM) | Fransen, Alonso & Hasselmo 2002 |
VTADANeuron | Pharma | Ventral Tegmental Area dopaminergic HH neuron with nAChR (I_ACh) input | Morozova et al. 2020 |
VTAGABANeuron | Pharma | Ventral Tegmental Area GABAergic neuron; as VTADANeuron but typed inhibitory | Morozova et al. 2020 |
HHExciNeuron_STN_Adam | DBS | Hodgkin–Huxley excitatory Subthalamic Nucleus neuron; _Adam = Adam et al. model (no citation in docstring) | — |
HHInhiNeuron_FSI_Adam | DBS | HH inhibitory striatal Fast-Spiking Interneuron with D-current + gap-junction input; Adam et al. model | — |
HHInhiNeuron_GPe_Adam | DBS | HH inhibitory Globus Pallidus externa neuron; Adam et al. model | — |
HHInhiNeuron_MSN_Adam | DBS | HH inhibitory striatal Medium Spiny Neuron with M-current (G_M); Adam et al. model | — |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
LinearNeuralMass | Basics | Single-state linear neural mass (used for spectral DCM) | — |
JansenRit | Basics | Named for B. Jansen & V. Rit; cortical/subcortical neural mass | Liu et al. 2020 (this implementation) |
WilsonCowan | Basics | Named for H. Wilson & J. Cowan; coupled E/I population-rate mass | — |
LarterBreakspear | Basics | Named for Larter & Breakspear; conductance-based mass | Endo et al. 2020; Chesebro et al. 2023; van Nieuwenhuizen et al. 2023 |
NGNMM_QIF | Basics | Next-Generation Neural Mass Model, Quadratic IF; exact mean-field with firing-rate coupling | "Theta-nested gamma bursts", Torcini group |
NGNMM_QIF_Noisy | Basics | Stochastic (SDE) variant of NGNMM_QIF | (as NGNMM_QIF) |
NGNMM_QIF_NonNoisy | Basics | Deterministic (ODE) variant of NGNMM_QIF | (as NGNMM_QIF) |
NGNMM_Izh | Basics | Next-Generation Neural Mass Model, Izhikevich; exact mean-field | Chen & Campbell 2022 |
NGNMM_Izh_Noisy | Basics | Stochastic (SDE) variant of NGNMM_Izh | (as NGNMM_Izh) |
NGNMM_Izh_NonNoisy | Basics | Deterministic (ODE) variant of NGNMM_Izh | (as NGNMM_Izh) |
HarmonicOscillator | Basics | Damped harmonic oscillator mass (frequency ω, damping ζ) | — |
Generic2dOscillator | Basics | Generic 2-variable oscillator (FitzHugh–Nagumo-like nullclines) | FitzHugh 1961; Nagumo et al. 1962; Stefanescu & Jirsa 2008/2011 |
VanDerPol | Basics | Named for B. van der Pol; relaxation-oscillator mass | — |
VanDerPol_Noisy | Basics | Stochastic (SDE) variant of VanDerPol | — |
VanDerPol_NonNoisy | Basics | Deterministic (ODE) variant of VanDerPol | — |
KuramotoOscillator | Basics | Named for Y. Kuramoto; phase oscillator for synchronization | Kuramoto 1975; defaults from Sermon et al. 2024 |
KuramotoOscillator_Noisy | Basics | Stochastic (SDE) variant of KuramotoOscillator | — |
KuramotoOscillator_NonNoisy | Basics | Deterministic (ODE) variant of KuramotoOscillator | — |
NGNMM_theta | Pharma | Next-Generation Neural Mass Model of coupled theta-neuron E/I populations | Byrne et al. 2020 |
NextGenerationEI | Pharma | Excitatory–Inhibitory mass; deprecated wrapper around NGNMM_theta | (see NGNMM_theta) |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
SNc | Pharma | Substantia Nigra pars compacta (docstring: "core"); mean-activity dopamine source for HebbianModulationPlasticity | Pathak et al. 2025 |
TAN | Pharma | Tonically Active Neuron; adds random drive to each Matrisome | Pathak et al. 2025 |
Striosome | Pharma | Striosome subcompartment; discretized estimate of striatal activity for learning | Pathak et al. 2025 |
Matrisome | Pharma | Matrisome subcompartment; stores cortical input + activity for corticostriatal plasticity | Pathak et al. 2025 |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
GABA_A_Synapse | Pharma | GABA type-A receptor; damped-oscillator (2-state) conductance | Koch et al. 1998; Wicks, Roehrig & Rankin 1996 |
GABA_A_FSI_Synapse | Pharma | GABA type-A synapse for Fast-Spiking Interneurons; tanh-driven asymptotic conductance | — |
GABA_B_Synapse | Pharma | GABA type-B receptor; slow damped-oscillator conductance | Destexhe, Mainen & Sejnowski 1998 |
Glu_AMPA_Synapse | Pharma | Glutamate AMPA receptor; damped-oscillator conductance | Koch et al. 1998; Wicks, Roehrig & Rankin 1996 |
Glu_AMPA_STA_Synapse | Pharma | Glutamate AMPA receptor with short-term augmentation (extra augmentation state) | Koch et al. 1998; Wicks, Roehrig & Rankin 1996 |
NMDA_Synapse | Pharma | NMDA receptor; damped-oscillator conductance (see also MoradiNMDAR) | Destexhe, Mainen & Sejnowski 1998 |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
GABA_A_Receptor_2state | Pharma | GABA type-A (ionotropic Cl⁻) receptor, two-state kinetics | — |
GABA_A_Gamma1_Receptor_2state | Pharma | GABA_A receptor, γ1-subunit variant (subunit identity unconfirmed — no docstring), two-state | — |
GABA_A_Gamma2_Receptor_2state | Pharma | GABA_A receptor, γ2-subunit variant (subunit identity unconfirmed — no docstring), two-state | — |
Glu_AMPA_Receptor_2state | Pharma | Glutamate AMPA receptor, two-state kinetics | — |
MsnAMPAR | Pharma | Medium Spiny Neuron AMPA receptor; adds D2 multiplicative gain (M_AMPA2) | Destexhe, Mainen & Sejnowski 1998; Humphries et al. 2009 |
MsnNMDAR | Pharma | Medium Spiny Neuron NMDA receptor (Moradi-style, Mg²⁺ block); D1 gain (M_NMDA1) | Humphries et al. 2009 |
MsnD1Receptor | Pharma | Medium Spiny Neuron dopamine D1 receptor; exports NMDA/Kir/NaF modulation factors | Moyer, Wolf & Finkel 2007; Humphries et al. 2009 |
MsnD2Receptor | Pharma | Medium Spiny Neuron dopamine D2 receptor; exports AMPA attenuation (M_AMPA2) | Humphries et al. 2009 |
PyrAMPAR | Pharma | Pyramidal-neuron AMPA receptor (BLA/mPFC); D2 modulation of AMPA drive | Destexhe, Mainen & Sejnowski 1998; Seamans & Yang 2004 |
PyrNMDAR | Pharma | Pyramidal-neuron NMDA receptor (Moradi-style, cortical defaults); D1 potentiation | Humphries et al. 2009; Bhatt et al. 2009; Seamans & Yang 2004 |
PyrD1Receptor | Pharma | Pyramidal-neuron dopamine D1 receptor; exports only NMDA potentiation | Seamans & Yang 2004; Durstewitz, Seamans & Sejnowski 2000 |
PyrD2Receptor | Pharma | Pyramidal-neuron dopamine D2 receptor (high-affinity); exports AMPA attenuation | Seamans & Yang 2004; Humphries et al. 2009 |
MoradiNMDAR | Pharma | NMDA receptor, Moradi et al. model (simplified/fast voltage dependence) | Moradi et al. 2013 |
MoradiFullNMDAR | Pharma | NMDA receptor, full Moradi et al. model (voltage-dependent τ + Q10 temperature terms) | Moradi et al. 2013 |
HTR5 | Pharma | 5-HT (serotonin, 5-hydroxytryptamine) receptor type 5; here a mode selector outputting PKA/PKC flags for four Aplysia conditions | Baxter & Byrne 1999 |
CaTRPM4R | Pharma | Ca²⁺-activated Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 4 (TRPM4/I_CAN) cation channel | Combe, Canavier & Gasparini 2023 |
Alpha7ERnAChR | Pharma | α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor coupled to an endoplasmic-reticulum Ca store; 3-state Markov gate with optional positive allosteric modulator | King et al. 2017 |
Beta2nAChR | Pharma | β2-subunit nicotinic acetylcholine receptor; distinguishes pulsatile-ACh vs tonic-nicotine responses | Morozova et al. 2020 |
MuscarinicR | Pharma | Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor; Ca-dependent non-specific cation current (I_NCM) | Fransen, Alonso & Hasselmo 2002 |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
Glu_Neurotransmitter | Pharma | Presynaptic glutamate-release state blox | — |
GABA_Neurotransmitter | Pharma | Presynaptic GABA-release state blox | — |
DA_Neurotransmitter | Pharma | Voltage-dependent dopamine release (sigmoid of Vₚᵣₑ, clearance τ); feeds D1/D2 receptors | Venton et al. 2003; Garris et al. 1994 |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
ConstantStimulus | Basics | Constant external input current | — |
PoissonSpikeTrainStimulus | Basics | Spikes drawn from a Poisson process | — |
OUProcess | Basics | Ornstein–Uhlenbeck stochastic-process source | — |
DBSStimulus | DBS | Deep Brain Stimulation; continuous regular square-pulse train | — |
ProtocolDBSStimulus | DBS | Deep Brain Stimulation grouped into bursts and blocks (protocol-structured) | — |
ImageStimulus | Pharma | Presents CSV image rows (pixel vectors) at t_stimulus, removed at t_pause | — |
PulsesStimulus | Pharma | Square-wave current pulse train over a baseline current | — |
VoltageClampStimulus | Pharma | Voltage-clamp source following a (t, V) schedule | — |
ConstantIStimulus | Pharma | Holds a generic current (I) fixed | — |
ConstantIAppStimulus | Pharma | Holds an applied current (I_app) fixed | — |
ConstantICaStimulus | Pharma | Holds a calcium current (I_Ca) fixed | — |
ConstantCaBulkStimulus | Pharma | Holds bulk/bath calcium (Ca_bulk) fixed | — |
ConstantDAStimulus | Pharma | Holds dopamine (DA) level fixed; drives D1/D2 receptors | — |
ConstantAChStimulus | Pharma | Holds acetylcholine (ACh) fixed; drives nAChR blox | — |
ConstantNicStimulus | Pharma | Holds nicotine (Nic) concentration fixed; tonic-nicotine input of Beta2nAChR | — |
ConstantCChStimulus | Pharma | Holds a carbachol (CCh, cholinergic agonist) condition flag fixed | — |
ConstantMuscarinicStimulus | Pharma | Holds a muscarinic (ACh) input fixed | — |
ConstantVPreStimulus | Pharma | Holds presynaptic voltage (V_pre) fixed | — |
ConstantVPostStimulus | Pharma | Holds postsynaptic voltage (V_post) fixed; drives NMDAR blox | — |
ConstantGAsympStimulus | Pharma | Holds the asymptotic synaptic conductance (G_asymp) fixed | — |
ConstantMAMPA2Stimulus | Pharma | Holds M_AMPA2 (D2 gain on AMPA drive) fixed | — |
ConstantMNMDA1Stimulus | Pharma | Holds M_NMDA1 (D1 gain on NMDA current) fixed | — |
ConstantModeStimulus | Pharma | Holds the discrete mode/condition-selector index fixed (e.g. HTR5 modes 0–3) | — |
| Blox | Pkg | Naming rationale | Citations |
|---|
CanonicalMicroCircuit | Basics | Canonical laminar cortical-column microcircuit motif | — |
LIFExciCircuit | Basics | Fully-connected circuit of excitatory Leaky-IF neurons | — |
LIFInhiCircuit | Basics | Fully-connected circuit of inhibitory Leaky-IF neurons | — |
PINGNetwork | Basics | Pyramidal-Interneuron Network Gamma: driven/undriven excitatory + inhibitory populations | Börgers et al. 2008 |
Cortical | Pharma | Neocortical layer: several Winner-Take-All microcircuits + a feedforward inhibitory cell, cross-connected hypergeometrically | Felch & Granger 2008; Pathak et al. 2025 |
WinnerTakeAll | Pharma | Lateral-inhibition microcircuit; excitatory cells converge on one inhibitory cell providing feedback inhibition | Coultrip, Granger & Lynch 1992; Pathak et al. 2025 |
Striatum | Pharma | Striatum composed of Matrisome, Striosome, and a Medium-Spiny-Neuron population | Pathak et al. 2025 |
GPe | Pharma | Globus Pallidus externa; population of inhibitory neurons | Pathak et al. 2025 |
GPi | Pharma | Globus Pallidus interna; population of inhibitory neurons | Pathak et al. 2025 |
STN | Pharma | Subthalamic Nucleus; population of excitatory neurons | Pathak et al. 2025 |
Thalamus | Pharma | Thalamic subregion; excitatory neurons wired via a sparse (acyclic) connection matrix | Pathak et al. 2025 |
NacShell | Pharma | Nucleus Accumbens shell; D1-type (direct) and D2-type (indirect) Medium Spiny Neuron populations | Gruber et al. 2003; Wolf et al. 2005 |
GPe_Adam | DBS | Globus Pallidus externa; population of Adam et al.-model inhibitory neurons (no citation in docstring) | — |
STN_Adam | DBS | Subthalamic Nucleus; population of Adam et al.-model excitatory neurons | — |
Striatum_FSI_Adam | DBS | Striatal Fast-Spiking Interneuron population (Adam et al. model) with synaptic + gap-junction wiring | — |
Striatum_MSN_Adam | DBS | Striatal Medium Spiny Neuron population (Adam et al. model) | — |