Building Embodied, Integrated Models of the Nervous System

How can neural circuit models become testable theories of how the brain generates behaviour? Nikhil Bhattasali argues that computational models should be tested in embodied, naturalistic settings rather than simplified tasks, presenting work that turns biological circuit structure into trainable neural networks, such as a spinal–brainstem controller for a virtual rat, and discussing extensions to visuomotor and basal ganglia circuits.