4138 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS—II: EXPRESS BRIEFS, VOL. 69, NO.
10, OCTOBER 2022
A High-Accuracy Digital Implementation of the
Morris–Lecar Neuron With Variable
Physiological Parameters
Alexander J. Leigh , Member, IEEE, Moslem Heidarpur, and Mitra Mirhassani , Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—A highly accurate digital implementation of the
Morris-Lecar neuron model is presented with the intended appli-
cation of hardware acceleration for neuroscience simulation. The
novel implementation employs the COordinate Rotation DIgital
Computer (CORDIC) algorithm to create a fixed-point imple-
mentation that is not only very accurate but requires low digital
hardware resources. The accuracy exceeds that of the current
state-of-the-art, requires fewer hardware resources to implement,
and operates at a higher maximum clock frequency. The design is
validated on FPGA and a normalized RMSE of 0.2039 is achieved
at a maximum clock frequency of 378.07MHz.
Index Terms—Spiking neurons, morris-lecar neuron, neuro-
morphic hardware, FPGA.
I. I NTRODUCTION
MONG the many complex systems of living beings,
A the brain and neurological systems are among the most
perplexing and intricate [1]. The biological nervous system
consists of a vast number of neurons, the basic unit of com-
putation. Neurons transmit information through spikes in the
electric potentials of their membranes. Information is coded
both in the rate of these spikes and in the timing through
methods called rate coding and temporal coding [2].
A growing understanding of the neuronal information trans-
mission mechanism is amassing, and central to the continua-
tion of growth in this field is simulation of real systems [3].
Mathematical modelling is frequently used to further thoughts
regarding neurological systems. Additionally, simulations have
been used to offer insight into the progression of neurologi-
cal diseases, among other applications in neuroscience and
medicine [4].
Given the applications for neural simulation, many mathe-
matical models of neurons have been proposed with varying
levels of detail in their descriptions of a real neuron. Among
the most detailed models are the Hodgkin-Huxley model [5]
and the Morris-Lecar model [6], where all model parameters
have parallels in a real neuron, thus making them biologically
Manuscript received 6 June 2022; accepted 21 June 2022. Date of pub-
lication 1 July 2022; date of current version 26 September 2022. This
brief was recommended by Associate Editor F. An. (Corresponding author:
Alexander J. Leigh.)
The authors are with the SHIELD Automotive Cybersecurity Centre of
Excellence, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada (e-mail:
leigh11@uwindsor.ca).
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSII.2022.3187623.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TCSII.2022.3187623
1549-7747 
c 2022 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
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meaningful. Higher-level descriptions include the Izhkevich
model [7] and the Adaptive-Exponential Integrate and Fire
(AdEx) model [8]. Although less complex than the first class
of detailed models while still behaviourally diverse, these mod-
els do not have direct parallelism to biology which limits their
applications in meaningful neuronal simulation.
Furthermore, the complexity of the mathematical models
used in neuroscience often leads to extensive computation
requirements. The time required for simulation can be greatly
reduced using custom hardware to accelerate simulation since
custom hardware is substantially faster than software [9].
Although there are many options for hardware implementa-
tions of artificial neurological systems, Field-Programmable
Gate Array (FPGA) offers many advantages. FPGA imple-
mentations are much more flexible than ASIC digital imple-
mentations and are far more robust than analog ASIC [9],
all while offering higher computation speed and lower power
consumption than software solutions.
Even though the Hodgkin-Huxley model offers one of the
most meaningful descriptions of neuronal behaviour [10], it
is computationally expensive and the Morris-Lecar model is
an excellent substitute that offers a highly relevant description
of the behaviour of a biological neuron. Therefore, a highly
accurate FPGA implementation of the Morris-Lecar neuron
model is presented with variable physiological parameters.
The proposed work has lower error and hardware resource
requirements than previously proposed designs [11], [12].
This is achieved by applying the COordinate Rotation DIgital
Computer (CORDIC) Algorithm [13] in a strategic manner to
the nonlinear terms of the system.
Background information is presented, followed by pre-
liminary simulations and error analysis. Subsequently, the
design is presented and compared to previous implementa-
tions to highlight its key advantages in neuroscience simulation
applications.
II. BACKGROUND
A. The Morris-Lecar Neuron Model
The Morris-Lecar Neuron Model was proposed by
Catherine Morris and Harold Lecar as a mathematical descrip-
tion of the behavioural modes of neurological voltage oscil-
lations in barnacle giant muscle fiber [6]. As such, this
neuron model has physiological meaning and its parame-
ters and behaviour have direct correspondence to biological
LEIGH et al.: HIGH-ACCURACY DIGITAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MORRIS–LECAR NEURON 4139

TABLE I
reality. Although simpler than prior conductance-based neu- M ODEL PARAMETERS U SED TO VALIDATE THE CORDIC
ron models such as the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron model [5], I MPLEMENTATION OF THE M ORRIS -L ECAR N EURON
the Morris-Lecar model has become popular among neurosci-
entists as it still can provide insight into natural neurological
behaviour [10].
The model consists of two interdependent differential
equations:
dV
Iapp = C + gL (V − VL ) + gCa m∞ (V − VCa ) + gK n(V − VK )
dt
(1)
dn
= λ(n∞ − n) (2)
dt
where:
1 V − V1
m∞ = (1 + tanh( )) (3)
2 V2 algorithm is employed in rotation mode, and it is used in vec-
1 V − V3 toring mode for multiplication and division operations. For the
n∞ = (1 + tanh( )) (4) −i
2 V4 exponential unit, αi is the precomputed value of e2 , while αi
V − V3 is 2−i for multiplication and division.
λ = λmax cosh( ) (5)
2V4
where Iapp is the input current, V is the membrane potential III. S OFTWARE S IMULATION
of the neuron and n is an auxiliary variable corresponding to Firstly, the efficacy of the CORDIC algorithm as a real-
sodium channels. The physiological parameters are defined as: ization method for the Morris-Lecar neuron was evaluated
• C : membrane capacitance per area in software. The CORDIC algorithm was applied to evaluate
• VCa : calcium equilibrium potential all multiplication, division, and hyperbolic operations in the
• VK : potassium equilibrium potential Morris-Lecar neuron model. Since both the hyperbolic cosine
• VL : leak equilibrium potential and hyperbolic tangent operations are presented in the model,
• gCa : conductance value for calcium the exponential definitions of the hyperbolic functions were
• gK : conductance value for potassium employed so that the two units could be implemented using a
• gL : conductance value for leak single CORDIC exponential unit.
The hyperbolic cosine function can be defined in terms of
B. The Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer (CORDIC) the exponential function as:
Algorithm
ex + e−x
The COordinate Rotation DIgital Computer (CORDIC) cosh(x) = (7)
2
Algorithm is an iterative algorithm that reduces complex terms
into shift and add operations in digital hardware [13]–[15]. Likewise, the hyperbolic tangent is defined as:
The CORDIC algorithm computes a given function through e2x − 1
rotation. By decomposing the rotation into small, predefined tanh(x) = (8)
e2x + 1
angles based on powers of 2, complex functions can be com-
puted using efficient iterative shift and add operations in digital The required iteration numbers for each operation were
hardware. determined through extensive simulation to determine an
With a sufficiently large number of iterations, exceptional acceptable trade-off between accuracy and throughput.
accuracy can be achieved in multiplication, division, exponen- Simulations were conducted for a wide range of input cur-
tial, and hyperbolic functions using the CORDIC algorithm. rent and for varying input model parameters. Table I shows
This potentially high-accuracy and low hardware require- the three parameter sets for which simulations and validation
ment method will be leveraged to efficiently implement the were conducted. Group 1 results in Andronov-Hopf bifur-
Morris-Lecar neuron with low error and variable physiological cation [11], [12], while Group 2 was presented by Morris
parameters. and Lecar for pacemaker oscillation [6], and Group 3 creates
The CORDIC algorithm can be expressed in a general saddle-node bifurcations [12]. Multiple error data points repre-
form as: senting different input stimulus levels were collected for each
parameter group for increasing iteration numbers to assess the
xi+1 = xi − σi 2−i yi CORDIC algorithm’s effect on model accuracy.
yi+1 = yi + σi 2−i xi It was found that exceptional accuracy is obtained for 7
iterations for exponential operations, 10 iterations for multi-
zi+1 = zi − σi αi (6)
plication, and 7 iterations for division. It was important to seek
where the initialization of x, y, and z depend on the desired low iteration numbers as the iteration number also influences
function to compute. σi = ±1 and αi depends on the target the word length of the CORDIC units in fixed point digital
function. To compute the exponential function, the CORDIC hardware.

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4140 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS—II: EXPRESS BRIEFS, VOL. 69, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2022

Fig. 1. Simulations of the membrane potential of the original and CORDIC Morris-Lecar Neuron for levels of input stimulus and model parameters.

TABLE II
Figure 1 shows simulations of the membrane potential of M EASURES OF E RROR FOR D IFFERENT PARAMETERS AND
the original and CORDIC Morris-Lecar neurons. It is apparent L EVELS OF I NPUT S TIMULUS
that clear qualitative matching is present between the two time-
domain membrane potentials. Note that the term original refers
to the ideal model in software simulation using floating point
operations.

A. Error Analysis
To properly assess and justify the selected CORDIC
iteration numbers for the implementation, error analysis was
performed. Three quantities were assessed, namely the Root
Mean Square Error (RMSE), normalized RMSE (nRMSE),
and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) so that a consistent assess- CORDIC-based Morris-Lecar neuron model to ensure match-
ment could be made with previous implementations for proper ing in their excitability. The Jacobian of the Morris-Lecar
comparison [11], [12]. These quantities are defined as: model is defined by:
 
δ V̇ δ V̇
1
n
J= δV δN (12)
MAE = |VCORDIC − V| (9) δ Ṅ δ Ṅ
n δV δN
i=1

n where:
i=1 (VCORDIC − V)
2
RMSE = (10) gCa (V − VCa )sech2 ( V−V
δ V̇ −1 V2 )
1
n = (gL + gK N + gCa m∞ + )
RMSE δV C 2V2
NRMSE = (11) δ V̇ −1
Vmax − Vmin = gK(V − VK )
δN C
Table II shows sample measurements of the error for various δ Ṅ λmax (n∞ − N) V − V3 λ V − V3
operating points. As is apparent, the CORDIC algorithm with = sinh( )+ sech2 ( )
δV 2V4 2V4 2V4 V4
sufficient iterations yields exceptional performance with very δ Ṅ
low error. = −λ (13)
δN
Table III shows select fixed points of the original
B. Bifurcation Analysis and CORDIC neurons for various input stimulus levels.
The term bifurcation refers to stability transitions in Additionally, Figure 2 shows sample phase portraits for the
dynamical systems and bifurcation analysis is a very important original and CORDIC Morris-Lecar neuron. As close matching
tool in characterizing the excitability of neurons [16]. Since is apparent, the results of bifurcation analysis further sup-
consistency in bifurcation implies consistency in excitabil- port the validation of behavioural similarity between the two
ity, bifurcation analysis was performed on the original and models since they exhibit consistent excitability.

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LEIGH et al.: HIGH-ACCURACY DIGITAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MORRIS–LECAR NEURON
Fig. 2. Phase portraits for the original and CORDIC Morris-Lecar neuron.
TABLE III
F IXED P OINTS FOR B OTH THE O RIGINAL AND CORDIC
M ORRIS -L ECAR N EURON FOR PARAMETER G ROUP 1
IV. H ARDWARE I MPLEMENTATION
After software verification, the proposed CORDIC-based
implementation of the Morris-Lecar neuron was implemented
on Xilinx’s Kintex-7 FPGA to validate the design’s func-
tionality. The VHDL design was constructed using generic
statements such that the word length, integer and fractional
bits, time step, and CORDIC iteration numbers are all recon-
figurable for high flexibility in the design. Based on the
operational range of the model values observed in simulation,
a fixed-point arithmetic with 10 integer bits and 15 fractional
bits was selected for the proposed hardware implementation
such that overflow and underflow are avoided and the large
range of input stimulus used for validation can be accommo-
dated in hardware. The time step was selected to be dt = 2−5
for convenience. Since the CORDIC operations require shifts
by as many as n bits, where n is the CORDIC iteration number,
the CORDIC computational units extend the input operands to
the required lengths to avoid overflow, then return them back
to the 25-bit width used for the system.
One critical challenge that arises from implementation is
operations scheduling since 4 exponential, 8 multiplication,
and 4 division operations must be performed. To keep hard-
ware resource requirements low, only one of each CORDIC
operational unit (multiplication, division, exponential) was
used. Multiplication operations run sequentially with concur-
rent division and exponential operations. The system passes
input operands to the CORDIC units with handshaking sig-
nals to initiate the operation. Once the results are ready, the
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4141
Fig. 3. Oscilloscope screen captures for the implemented neuron. Note that
any observed noise can be attributed to the reduced-resolution resistive ladder
DAC used to convert the membrane potential to an analog signal.
CORDIC units return the results with handshaking signals
and new operands are presented. The maximum operation
frequency is limited by the CORDIC exponential unit as the
−i
precomputed shift and add operations that implement e2
are the slowest single-cycle operations in the system. The
longest throughput delay is a result of sequential multiplication
operations.
Figure 3 shows screen captures from an oscilloscope show-
ing the implemented waveform from the FPGA. The digital
membrane potential was converted to analog for viewing using
a 12-bit resistive ladder DAC. Any observed noise in the signal
can be attributed to the conversion method and reduced reso-
lution for conversion. It is clear that Figure 3 verifies that the
implemented design closely matches behavioural expectations.
V. R ESULTS
Table IV shows post-implementation resource usage for
the proposed implementation on the Kintex-7 FPGA, as well
as results from previous works. As is shown, the proposed
work requires fewer LUTs for implementation and operates
at a substantially higher clock frequency than previously
proposed implementations. Furthermore, the CORDIC-based
implementation offers significantly lower error than previous
implementations. Given the increased accuracy and reduced
4142 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS—II: EXPRESS BRIEFS, VOL. 69, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2022
TABLE IV
FPGA R ESOURCE U TILIZATION C OMPARISONS FOR THE P ROPOSED
I MPLEMENTATION AND P REVIOUS W ORKS . N OTE T HAT THE R ESOURCE
S AVINGS A RE L EFT E MPTY FOR THE PWL1 D ESIGN S INCE THE U SE OF
DSP B LOCKS S KEWS U SAGE DATA R EPORTED FOR THE D ESIGN
resource requirements of the proposed implementation, the
CORDIC-based Morris-Lecar neuron is an excellent candidate
for accurate hardware acceleration of neuroscience simula-
tions. The lowered resource requirements allow for larger
networks of neurons to be constructed to accelerate simu-
lations of vastly parallel networks of biologically accurate
neurons. Although the LUT usage is not a direct measure of
silicon area in an ASIC implementation, there is a strong rela-
tionship between these two metrics [17], meaning the LUT
usage is an important metric when considering design transfers
to ASIC.
Firstly, the two designs in [12] sacrifice model accuracy
for reduced hardware resource requirements. From Table IV
it is clear that these designs have far higher error than the
proposed design, require far more LUTs to implement, and
operate a much lower clock frequencies. Although the LUT
usage is not immediately apparent in the case of the Morris-
Lecar PieceWise Linear (MLPWL1) design, 8 DSP blocks are
used, which if implemented without DSP blocks would dra-
matically increase the required number of LUTs. Additionally,
the piecewise linear approximations used in [12] for both
designs result in substantial accuracy degradation outside of
the anticipated operational range.
Furthermore, the Division-Based Morris Lecar (DBML)
model proposed in [11] has larger hardware resource require-
ments, operates at a lower clock frequency, and has slightly
higher error than the proposed implementation. Furthermore,
the DBML model modifies the meaning of the input param-
eters to the model. One of the most significant aspects of
the Morris-Lecar neuron model is that its parameters have
direct correspondence to biological quantities. Without a clear
and direct link of the parameters to physiological quanti-
ties, the DBML may see limitation in neurological modelling.
In contrast, the proposed CORDIC implementation maintains
the direct link of the parameters to physiological constants
and allows these parameters to be input by the user with-
out the need to redesign the system. These parameters are
very important in select modelling applications. For example,
Fabry’s disease is believed to be characterized by changes in
the neuron’s conductance to certain ions [18]. Thus, without
the ability to directly model these changes, accurate simu-
lation would be difficult. Therefore, the proposed CORDIC
Morris-Lecar neuron would be a good candidate for appli-
cations where the effects of physiological parameter changes
must be observed.
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VI. C ONCLUSION AND F UTURE W ORK
A novel, resource-efficient, and highly accurate implementa-
tion of the biologically meaningful Morris-Lecar neuron model
on FPGA has been presented with the target application of
hardware acceleration for neuroscience simulations. All model
parameters are externally variable, making it an excellent can-
didate for modelling neurological diseases and the response of
neurological systems under biologically explicable behavioural
changes.
Possible extensions of this brief could include the
use of this design for implementations of highly paral-
lel networks for hardware acceleration of neuroscientific
simulations.
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