What is Neurosim?
Neurosim simulates neural activity at the cellular and systems level. It works “off-the-shelf” and requires no programming or specialist computer know-how. Its key design aim is to help develop deep understanding of cellular neurophysiology at the undergraduate and graduate student level, but it also provides an effective modelling tool for experimental and research use in computational neuroscience.
Neurosim is a desktop program that runs under Windows 10 or later. System administrators can also deliver it to multiple simultaneous users with programs like AppsAnywhere or by streaming from a VDI.
Key Features
- Provides realistic simulations for cellular and network electrophysiology.
- Easy to use, no programming knowledge required.
- Intuitive, configurable interface.
- Enables simulations appropriate for multiple levels, from 1st year college to post-graduate and research use.
- Can be used to reinforce core concepts, and to set challenges and puzzles that give users experience in experimental design, data analysis, and problem solving.
- Can build models at multiple biological levels, including passive properties, individual ion channels, individual neurons, compartmental models of neurons and networks of neurons.
- Neurons can be integrate-and-fire and/or have full Hodgkin-Huxley formalism containing multiple ion channels with user-specified kinetics.
- Intracellular sodium and calcium concentrations can be modelled, allowing inclusion of calcium-dependent channels and dynamic sodium pumps.
- Any number of neurons can be linked with any number of synaptic connections to form a network circuit.
- Chemical synapses can have spiking or non-spiking pre-synaptic release dynamics, and have fully configurable post-synpatic properties including conductance profile, equilibrium potential, facilitation, Hebbian properties and voltage-dependency.
- Electrical synapses can be non-rectifying or rectifying.
- Supported by a very extensive set of tutorials.
Neurosim Modules: A brief description of the 7 modules in Neurosim.
Gallery: Screenshots of Neurosim in action.
Getting Neurosim
Latest version: v5.8.1 (released November 2025)
Individual users can purchase Neurosim through the Microsoft Store.
Institutions can purchase Neurosim with a volume discount.Install or Update Neurosim (for institutions)
What's New?: List of changes with each version, and how to update.
Information for Mac and Linux users.
Support Documents
Suggested Use: Some ideas about how Neurosim can be used.
Common 'How To' Tasks: How to accomplish some common tasks when using Neurosim.
Walk-through: Step-by-step guides for setting up simulations in Neurosim.
Tutorial Exercises and Demonstrations: An extensive set of classroom activities covering :
- The passive properties of neurons
- The generation and propagation of action potentials.
- Synapses
- Networks of neurons
- Kinetics of single ion channels.
Feedback: I have (obviously) done my best to ensure that the program operates correctly and that the documentation is correct, but if you come across any bugs or errors, please let me know. Also, I welcome any suggestions for improvements.
About the Author
Dr Bill Heitler recently retired from a full-time academic position at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and is now an honorary Reader in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at that university. He has many years of teaching experience, and has researched and published extensively in invertebrate simple-systems and cellular neuroscience.
This work has benefited enormously from the experience the author gained at the University of St Andrews. However, the university is not responsible in any way for the contents of the program, nor the documentation that accompanies it.
Contact the author.
Other resources by the author.