{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T22:49:11Z","timestamp":1783032551705,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"MIT Press","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>From biological and artificial network perspectives, researchers have started acknowledging astrocytes as computational units mediating neural processes. Here, we propose a novel biologically inspired neuron-astrocyte network model for image recognition, one of the first attempts at implementing astrocytes in spiking neuron networks (SNNs) using a standard data set. The architecture for image recognition has three primary units: the preprocessing unit for converting the image pixels into spiking patterns, the neuron-astrocyte network forming bipartite (neural connections) and tripartite synapses (neural and astrocytic connections), and the classifier unit. In the astrocyte-mediated SNNs, an astrocyte integrates neural signals following the simplified Postnov model. It then modulates the integrate-and-fire (IF) neurons via gliotransmission, thereby strengthening the synaptic connections of the neurons within the astrocytic territory. We develop an architecture derived from a baseline SNN model for unsupervised digit classification. The spiking neuron-astrocyte networks (SNANs) display better network performance with an optimal variance-bias trade-off than SNN alone. We demonstrate that astrocytes promote faster learning, support memory formation and recognition, and provide a simplified network architecture. Our proposed SNAN can serve as a benchmark for future researchers on astrocyte implementation in artificial networks, particularly in neuromorphic systems, for its simplified design.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/neco_a_01740","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,3]],"date-time":"2025-03-03T16:32:41Z","timestamp":1741019561000},"page":"635-665","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Spiking Neuron-Astrocyte Networks for Image Recognition"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"37","author":[{"given":"Jhunlyn","family":"Lorenzo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory ImViA EA7535, Universit\u00e9 de Bourgogne, 21078 Dijon, France"},{"name":"College of Engineering and Information Technology, Cavite State University, 4122, Indang, Philippines 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