Chaotic Spike Patterns Evoked by Periodic Inhibition of Rat Cortical Neurons

Abstract

We use methods of nonlinear dynamics to describe the effect of periodic inhibition on the patterns of action potentials generated by regular spiking rat cortical neuron in vitro. Both direct measurements and our mathematical model reveal that chaotic patterns of discharge can be evoked at certain frequencies of inhibitory stimulation. We use detailed biophysical simulation of a cortical neuron to explain the firing patterns in terms of known membrane ionic conductances.