GPU Parallelization of Realistic Purkinje Cells with Complex Morphology

High performance computing (HPC) is becoming mandatory for the simulation of complex and realistic neuronal models. The development of such realistic models will allow to discover innovative therapies and to study brain diseases without undertaking invasive experiments that are not always possible. However, the models complexity requires adopting suitable technologies in order to provide results in short times, hopefully in real-time. To address this issue, the authors decided to exploit Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) in order to develop a realistic and morphologically detailed Purkinje cell model. This paper describes the simulation of the Purkinje cell activity adopting both single and multi-GPU strategy, together with the exploitation of different NVIDIA architectures. Results shows that the simulation times of 10000 cells is reduced from 13 days and 18 hours to about 2 hours.