Analytical approach to noise effects on synchronization in a system of coupled excitable elements

Abstract

We report relationships between the effects of noise and applied constant currents on the behavior of a system of excitable elements. The analytical approach based on the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation of a mean-field model allows us to study the effects of noise without approximations only by dealing with deterministic nonlinear dynamics . We find the similarity, with respect to the occurrence of oscillations involving subcritical Hopf bifurcations, between the systems of an excitable element with applied constant currents and mean-field coupled excitable elements with noise. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.