Controlling the spontaneous spiking regularity via channel blocking on Newman-Watts networks of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons

TL;DR

This paper explores how blocking ion channels influences the regularity of spontaneous neural spiking in small-world networks, revealing optimal conditions for ordered activity and potential biological implications.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the fraction of blocked ion channels and network topology can be tuned to optimize neural spiking regularity, a novel control mechanism for neural dynamics.

Findings

Optimal fraction of shortcut links enhances spiking regularity.

Intrinsic noise intensity has a resonance-like effect on activity.

Channel blocking modulates firing rate and system dynamics.

Abstract

We investigate the regularity of spontaneous spiking activity on Newman-Watts small-world networks consisting of biophysically realistic Hodgkin-Huxley neurons with a tunable intensity of intrinsic noise and fraction of blocked voltage-gated sodium and potassium ion channels embedded in neuronal membranes. We show that there exists an optimal fraction of shortcut links between physically distant neurons, as well as an optimal intensity of intrinsic noise, which warrant an optimally ordered spontaneous spiking activity. This doubly coherence resonance-like phenomenon depends significantly, and can be controlled via the fraction of closed sodium and potassium ion channels, whereby the impacts can be understood via the analysis of the firing rate function as well as the deterministic system dynamics. Potential biological implications of our findings for information propagation across neural networks are also discussed.