Topographica is a software package for computational modeling of neural maps, developed as part of the NIMH Human Brain Project under grant 1R01-MH66991. The goal is to help researchers understand brain function at the level of the topographic maps that make up sensory and motor systems.

Topographica is intended to complement the many good low-level neuron simulators that are available, such as Genesis and Neuron. Those simulators focus on modeling the detailed internal behavior of neurons and small networks of them. Topographica instead focuses on the large-scale structure and function that is visible only when many thousands of such neurons are connected into topographic maps containing millions of connections. Topographica provides a general-purpose framework for building models at this level, at an appropriate level of detail and complexity, as determined by the available computing power, phenomena of interest, and amount of biological data available for validation.