Described is a system for object detection in images or videos using spiking neural networks. An intensity saliency map is generated from an intensity of an input image having color components using a spiking neural network. Additionally, a color saliency map is generated from a plurality of colors in the input image using a spiking neural network. An object detection model is generated by combining the intensity saliency map and multiple color saliency maps. The object detection model is used to detect multiple objects of interest in the input image.