1. A method for processing an input signal using a plurality of simulated neurons, wherein each simulated neuron is connected to one or more other simulated neurons, and each simulated neuron is associated with an activity and a phase, the method comprising: (a) setting activity and phase of each simulated neuron based on activity and phase of other simulated neurons connected to said each simulated neuron; (b) modulating activity and phase of each of the plurality of simulated neurons based on a plurality of modulation functions; and (c) identifying one or more distinct entities in the input signal based on one or more distinct collections of simulated neurons that have substantially distinct phases.