Anticipated Synchronization and Zero-Lag Phases in Population Neural Models

Abstract

Anticipated synchronization is a counterintuitive synchronization regime between a master and a slave dynamical system in which there is a negative phase difference between the driver and the driven system. By studying a set of simple neural oscillators, we unveil the dynamical mechanisms required to generate this phenomenon. We study master–slave configurations where the slave system is, when uncoupled, in a quiescent excitable state. We exemplify our results by describing the dynamics of a dynamical system proposed to model the part of a songbird’s brain involved in song production.