Noise-Activated And Noise-Induced Rhythms in Neural Systems

Abstract

The dynamical features of spike train generation in the presence of noise are investigated for three different models of neural rhythm generators: a single neuron model that simulates impulse pattern modulation for temperature encoding in mammalian cold receptors, a minimal neural network that describes transitions between beta and gamma rhythms in the brain and an electronic switching device that represents a simple breathing rhythm generator for a snail. We show that noise can explain a number of peculiarities in the observed spike trains, cause coherent switchings between different states, and induce new rhythms in small neural ensembles.