Energy consumption in the synchronization of neurons coupled by electrical or memristive synapse

Abstract

The energy consumption in synapses has been an issue of great concern, and we apply the resistor to function as the electrical synapse, and the memristor is utilized as the chemical synapse. We investigate the dynamics of neurons during the synchronization, as well as the energy consumption associated with coupled channels. The numerical results revealed that two neurons with different initial values can get into a complete synchronization, regardless of whether they are coupled via resistive or memristive synapse. Furthermore, the energy consumption of electrical synaptic coupling is companied by an energy phase transition burst that causes a sharp increase or decrease in the channel energy consumption. In contrast, memristive coupling promotes steady information and energy exchange between neurons, with relatively lower energy consumption compared to electrical synaptic coupling. Meanwhile, the memconductance of the memristor is lower than that of resistive coupling, leading to a lower coupling strength when the synchronization is achieved. Furthermore, the employment of the energy switch to trigger synaptic activation or silence can effectively control synaptic activity, and neurons can spontaneously synchronize and maintain energy balance. The energy difference between chaotic neurons can cause the transitions between synchronization, desynchronization, and resynchronization. The findings may provide insights for developing genuine neural circuits and leveraging them in artificial neuron design.