Bistable firing pattern in a neural network model

P. R. Protachevicz; F. S. Borges; E. L. Lameu; P. Ji; K. C. Iarosz; A. H. Kihara; I. L. Caldas; J. D. Szezech Jr.; M. S. Baptista; E. E. N. Macau; C. G. Antonopoulos; A. M. Batista; J. Kurths

arXiv · 1810.10142

Bistable firing pattern in a neural network model

P. R. Protachevicz·F. S. Borges·E. L. Lameu·P. Ji·K. C. Iarosz·A. H. Kihara·I. L. Caldas·J. D. Szezech Jr.·M. S. Baptista·E. E. N. Macau·C. G. Antonopoulos·A. M. Batista·J. Kurths

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Abstract

Excessively high, neural synchronisation has been associated with epileptic seizures, one of the most common brain diseases worldwide. A better understanding of neural synchronisation mechanisms can thus help control or even treat epilepsy. In this paper, we study neural synchronisation in a random network where nodes are neurons with excitatory and inhibitory synapses, and neural activity for each node is provided by the adaptive exponential integrate-and-fire model. In this framework, we verify that the decrease in the influence of inhibition can generate synchronisation originating from a pattern of desynchronised spikes. The transition from desynchronous spikes to synchronous bursts of activity, induced by varying the synaptic coupling, emerges in a hysteresis loop due to bistability where abnormal (excessively high synchronous) regimes exist. We verify that, for parameters in the bistability regime, a square current pulse can trigger excessively high (abnormal) synchronisation, a process that can reproduce features of epileptic seizures. Then, we show that it is possible to suppress such abnormal synchronisation by applying a small-amplitude external current on less than 10% of the neurons in the network. Our results demonstrate that external electrical stimulation not only can trigger synchronous behaviour, but more importantly, it can be used as a means to reduce abnormal synchronisation and thus, control or treat effectively epileptic seizures.

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P. R. Protachevicz, F. S. Borges, E. L. Lameu, P. Ji, K. C. Iarosz, A. H. Kihara, I. L. Caldas, J. D. Szezech Jr., M. S. Baptista, E. E. N. Macau, C. G. Antonopoulos, A. M. Batista, J. Kurths. 2019-03-18. Bistable firing pattern in a neural network model. https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.10142

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