 Computational neuroscience describes the nervous system through computational models. Although this research program is grounded in mathematical modeling of individual neurons, the distinctive focus of computational neuroscience is systems of interconnected neurons. Computational neuroscience usually models these systems as neural networks. In that sense, it is a variant, off-shoot, or descendant of connectionism. However, most computational neuroscientists do not self-identify as connectionists. There are several differences between connectionism and computational neuroscience: