Jaxley 0.13.0
Differentiable neuron simulations.
Requires Python: >=3.10
Keywords: neuroscience, biophysics, simulator, jax

<p align="center">
  <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/main/docs/logo.png" width="360">
</p>

<h1 align="center">Differentiable neuron simulations on CPU, GPU, or TPU</h1>

[![PyPI version](https://badge.fury.io/py/jaxley.svg)](https://badge.fury.io/py/jaxley)
[![Contributions welcome](https://img.shields.io/badge/contributions-welcome-brightgreen.svg?style=flat)](https://github.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)
[![Tests](https://github.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/actions/workflows/tests.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/actions/workflows/tests.yml)
[![GitHub license](https://img.shields.io/github/license/jaxleyverse/jaxley)](https://github.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/blob/main/LICENSE)

[**Documentation**](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
 | [**Getting Started**](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/01_morph_neurons.html)
 | [**Install guide**](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html)
 | [**Reference docs**](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/jaxley.html)
 | [**FAQ**](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html)


## What is Jaxley?

`Jaxley` is a differentiable simulator for [biophysical neuron models](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq/question_03.html), written in the Python library [JAX](https://github.com/google/jax). Its key features are:

- automatic differentiation, allowing gradient-based optimization of thousands of parameters  
- support for CPU, GPU, or TPU without any changes to the code  
- `jit`-compilation, making it as fast as other packages while being fully written in `Python`  
- support for multicompartment neurons  
- elegant mechanisms for parameter sharing  


## Getting started

`Jaxley` allows to simulate biophysical neuron models on CPU, GPU, or TPU:
```python
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from jax import config

import jaxley as jx
from jaxley.channels import HH

config.update("jax_platform_name", "cpu")  # Or "gpu" / "tpu".

cell = jx.Cell()  # Define cell.
cell.insert(HH())  # Insert channels.

current = jx.step_current(i_delay=1.0, i_dur=1.0, i_amp=0.1, delta_t=0.025, t_max=10.0)
cell.stimulate(current)  # Stimulate with step current.
cell.record("v")  # Record voltage.

v = jx.integrate(cell)  # Run simulation.
plt.plot(v.T)  # Plot voltage trace.
```

[Here](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq/question_03.html) you can find an overview of what kinds of models can be implemented in `Jaxley`. If you want to learn more, we recommend you to check out our tutorials on how to:

- [get started with `Jaxley`](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/01_morph_neurons.html)
- [simulate networks of neurons](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/02_small_network.html)
- [speed up simulations with GPUs and `jit`](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/04_jit_and_vmap.html)
- [define your own channels and synapses](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/05_channel_and_synapse_models.html)
- [compute the gradient and train biophysical models](https://jaxley.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/07_gradient_descent.html)


## Installation

`Jaxley` is available on [`PyPI`](https://pypi.org/project/jaxley/):
```sh
pip install jaxley
```
This will install `Jaxley` with CPU support. If you want GPU support, follow the instructions on the [`JAX` Github repository](https://github.com/google/jax) to install `JAX` with GPU support (in addition to installing `Jaxley`). For example, for NVIDIA GPUs, run
```sh
pip install -U "jax[cuda13]"
```


## Feedback and Contributions

We welcome any feedback on how Jaxley is working for your neuron models and are happy to receive bug reports, pull requests and other feedback (see [contribute](https://github.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)). We wish to maintain a positive community, please read our [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).


## License

[Apache License Version 2.0 (Apache-2.0)](https://github.com/jaxleyverse/jaxley/blob/main/LICENSE)


## Citation

If you use `Jaxley`, consider citing the [corresponding paper](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-025-02895-w):

```
@article{deistler2025jaxley,
  title={Jaxley: differentiable simulation enables large-scale training of detailed biophysical models of neural dynamics},
  author={Deistler, Michael and Kadhim, Kyra L and Pals, Matthijs and Beck, Jonas and Huang, Ziwei and Gloeckler, Manuel and Lappalainen, Janne K and Schr{\"o}der, Cornelius and Berens, Philipp and Gon{\c{c}}alves, Pedro J and others},
  journal={Nature Methods},
  pages={1--9},
  year={2025},
  publisher={Nature Publishing Group US New York}
}
```