EFFECT OF RANDOM LINK MALFUNCTIONS TO SYNCHRONIZATION OF HODGKIN–HUXLEY NEURONS IN A LATTICE NETWORK

Abstract

We study the synchronization of Hodgkin–Huxley (HH) neurons connected in a directed lattice network under the influence of varying coupling strength (g) and random link malfunctions in the form of probabilistic deletion (probability q) and link direction flipping (p). We quantify the extent of synchronization of the neurons in the network by averaging the fraction of firing neurons that produce action potentials (exceeding a threshold potential of V th ) across the entire observation time. By extensively scanning over the values of g, synchronization of this network type can be enhanced by increasing g until it reaches a threshold value wherein synchronization will deteriorate abruptly due to suppression of neural firings. We also extensively probe the interplay of p and q and show that there are certain combinations for which the synchronization will improve, defying negative notions of how we perceive random malfunctions.