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Would you publish unrealistic models?

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Abstract

The theoretical neurosciences research community produces many models, of different natures, to capture activities or functions of the brain. Some of these models are presented as «realistic » models, often because variables and parameters have biophysical units, but not always. In this opinion article, I explain why this term can be misleading and I propose some elements that can be useful to characterize a model.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Mallory Carlu and Elif Koksal Ersoz for helpful and rich discussions. This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 101147319 (EBRAINS 2.0 Project), it has benefited from a government grant managed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) under the France 2030 program, reference ANR-22-PESN-0012 and received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 101137289 (Virtual Brain Twin Project).

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Correspondence to Damien Depannemaecker.

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Communicated by Benjamin Lindner.

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Depannemaecker, D. Would you publish unrealistic models?. Biol Cybern 119, 3 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-024-00999-8

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