Spaun (Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network)

{{Short description|Brain simulation architecture}}

Spaun ("Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network") is a cognitive architecture pioneered by Chris Eliasmith of the University of Waterloo Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience.{{cite web | url=https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/news/spaun-chris-eliasmith-how-build-brain | title=Spaun: Chris Eliasmith on how to build a brain | work=University of Waterloo | date=6 March 2013 | accessdate=17 May 2016}} It consists of 2.5 million simulated neurons organized into subsystems that resemble specific brain regions, such as the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus. It can recognize numbers, remember them, figure out numeric sequences, and even write them down with a robotic arm.{{cite web |url=http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-11/meet-spaun-first-computer-model-complex-brain-behavior |title=Meet Spaun, The Most Complex Simulated Brain Ever |newspaper=Popsci.com |date= 30 November 2012|author= |accessdate= May 17, 2016}}{{cite journal |last1=Eliasmith |first1=C. |last2=Stewart |first2=T.C. |last3=Choo |first3=X. |last4=Bekolay |first4=T. |last5=DeWolf |first5=T. |last6=Tang |first6=Y. |last7=Rasmussen |first7=D. |title=A large-scale model of the functioning brain |journal=Science |volume=338 |issue=6111 |pages=1202–5 |date=2012 |doi=10.1126/science.1225266 |bibcode=2012Sci...338.1202E |url=}} It is implemented using Nengo.