Coexistence of infinitely many patterns and their control in heterogeneous coupled neurons through a multistable memristive synapse

Abstract

The phenomenon of hidden heterogeneous extreme multistability is rarely reported in coupled neurons. This phenomenon is investigated in this contribution using a model of a 2D FitzHugh–Nagumo neuron coupled with a 3D Hindmarsh–Rose neuron through a multistable memristive synapse. The investigation of the equilibria revealed that the coupled neuron model is equilibrium free and, thus, displays a hidden dynamics. Some traditional nonlinear analysis tools are used to demonstrate that the heterogeneous neuron system is able to exhibit the coexistence of an infinite number of electrical activities involving both periodic and chaotic patterns. Of particular interest, a noninvasive control method is applied to suppress all the periodic coexisting activities, while preserving only the desired chaotic one. Finally, an electronic circuit of the coupled neurons is designed in the PSpice environment and used to further support some results of the theoretical investigations.