Delay-induced multirhythmicity in a 3-cell inhibitory network

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a delayed three-cell central pattern generator network using return-map analysis and a phase-reduced description derived from generalized FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators. The phase model captures the emergence and stability of synchronous, pacemaker, and traveling-wave rhythms and provides a systematic, computationally efficient framework for characterizing the network dynamics beyond direct return-map calculations. We conduct extensive two-parameter analyses of both the full and phase-reduced models, revealing rich multi-rhythmic dynamics and transitions among coexisting rhythmic states. The close agreement between the two descriptions establishes phase reduction as an efficient and reliable framework for characterizing the dynamical organization of delayed neural oscillator networks.