The impact of electrical couplings on the sequential bursting activity in the ensemble of inhibitory coupled Van der Pol elements

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electrical coupling influences the sequential bursting activity in a neural ensemble modeled with Van der Pol oscillators, highlighting the effects of coupling strength and frequency mismatch.

Contribution

It introduces a new phenomenological model combining chemical and electrical couplings in a three-neuron system with Van der Pol oscillators, analyzing their impact on activity regimes.

Findings

Electrical coupling strength affects bursting patterns

Frequency mismatch influences sequential activity regimes

Electrical coupling can synchronize or desynchronize neuron activity

Abstract

The new phenomenological model of the ensemble of three neurons with chemical (synaptic) and electrical couplings has been studied. One neuron is modeled by a single Van der Pol oscillator. The influence of the electrical coupling strength and the frequency mismatch between the elements to the regime of sequential activity is investigated.