Diversity-induced decoherence

TL;DR

This paper investigates how small heterogeneity and noise in coupled excitable oscillators can disrupt synchronized oscillations through a newly identified mechanism called diversity-induced decoherence, with implications for neural systems.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of diversity-induced decoherence (DIDC) and explains its mechanism using mean-field analysis, highlighting its potential role in neural dynamics.

Findings

Heterogeneity modulates self-induced stochastic resonance.

DIDC inhibits coherence of oscillations.

Potential relevance to neural disorders.

Abstract

We analyze the effect of small-amplitude noise and heterogeneity in a network of coupled excitable oscillators with strong time scale separation. Using mean-field analysis, we uncover the mechanism of a new nontrivial effect -- diversity-induced decoherence (DIDC) -- in which heterogeneity modulates the mechanism of self-induced stochastic resonance to inhibit the coherence of oscillations. We argue that DIDC may offer one possible mechanism via which, in excitable neural systems, generic heterogeneity and background noise can synergistically prevent unwanted resonances that may be related to hyperkinetic movement disorders.