{
  "abstract": "A network of spiking neurons is said to operate in the rate coding regime if its dynamics can be accurately described by a continuous rate network. But how can discrete spike-based communication between neurons give rise to continuous rate-based dynamics? Computational studies showing that heterogeneous spiking networks can approximate the dynamics of recurrent neural networks (RNNs), a special case of rate network, assume that spikes are approximately Poisson or that network dynamics are slow. Here, we show that neither assumption is necessary: heterogeneous networks of non-Poisson neurons can produce fast rate-based dynamics. To demonstrate this, we show that signal transmission in feedforward networks of integrate-and-fire-type neurons can be described by a history-dependent rate network that is asymptotically exact as network size grows, even if heterogeneity persists, while linear-nonlinear rate networks fail. By providing a constructive model of fast rate coding in heterogeneous networks, this work lays the foundation for extending rate-based analyses of neural recordings beyond the assumption of slow dynamics or Poisson rate codes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "EPFL"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "K. Smeets"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "V. Schmutz"
    },
    {
      "name": "W. Gerstner"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cvk5fpdmdawcb.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.30.763048",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763048v1.full",
  "id": "cvk5fpdmdawcb",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763048v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763048v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-30",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cvk5fpdmdawcb.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T00:21:40Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.30.763048",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763048v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Fast rate coding in heterogeneous spiking networks",
  "title_text": "Fast rate coding in heterogeneous spiking networks",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-05T00:21:09Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cvk5fpdmdawcb",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}