Effects of quasiactive membrane on multiply periodic traveling waves in integrate-and-fire systems

Abstract

We consider the dynamics of a one-dimensional continuum of synaptically interacting integrate-and-fire neurons with realistic forms of axodendritic interaction. The speed and stability of traveling waves are investigated as a function of discrete communication delays, distributed synaptic delays, and axodendritic delays arising from the spatially extended nature of the model neuron. In particular, dispersion curves for periodic traveling waves are constructed. Nonlinear ionic channels in the dendrite responsible for a so-called quasiactive bandpass response are shown to significantly influence the shape of dispersion curves. Moreover, a kinematic theory of spike train propagation suggests that period-doubling bifurcations of a singly periodic wave can occur in dendritic systems with a quasiactive membrane. The explicit construction of period-doubled solutions is used to confirm this prediction. © 2003 The American Physical Society.