Noise-induced synchronization in bidirectionally coupled type-I neurons

Abstract

We present here some studies on noise-induced order and synchronous firing in a system of bidirectionally coupled generic type-I neurons. We find that transitions from unsynchronized to completely synchronized states occur beyond a critical value of noise strength that has a clear functional dependence on neuronal coupling strength and input values. For an inhibitory-excitatory (IE) synaptic coupling, the approach to a partially synchronized state is shown to vary qualitatively depending on whether the input is less or more than a critical value. We find that introduction of noise can cause a delay in the bifurcation of the firing pattern of the excitatory neuron for IE coupling.