Reliability of temporal coding on pulse-coupled networks of oscillators

Abstract

We study the reliability of spike output in a general class of pulse-coupled oscillators receiving a fluctuating input. Showing that this problem is equivalent to noise-induced synchronization between identical networks of oscillators, we employ the phase reduction method to analytically derive the average Lyapunov exponent of the synchronized state. We show that a transition occurs between reliable and unreliable responses at a critical coupling strength, which is determined through the competition between the external input and recurrent input. To our surprise, the critical value does not depend on intrinsic properties of oscillators.