Experimental study of electrical FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons with modified excitability

Neural Netw. 2006 Jun;19(5):684-93. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2005.07.011. Epub 2005 Sep 22.

Abstract

We present an electronical circuit modelling a FitzHugh-Nagumo neuron with a modified excitability. To characterize this basic cell, the bifurcation curves between stability with excitation threshold, bistability and oscillations are investigated. An electrical circuit is then proposed to realize a unidirectional coupling between two cells, mimicking an inter-neuron synaptic coupling. In such a master-slave configuration, we show experimentally how the coupling strength controls the dynamics of the slave neuron, leading to frequency locking, chaotic behavior and synchronization. These phenomena are then studied by phase map analysis. The architecture of a possible neural network is described introducing different kinds of coupling between neurons.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Animals
  • Biological Clocks / physiology*
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Neural Networks, Computer*
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Nonlinear Dynamics
  • Oscillometry / methods
  • Synaptic Transmission / physiology