Phase synchronization between a light-dependent neuron and a thermosensitive neuron

Abstract

The nervous system is made up of various functional neurons, e.g. some neurons can percept external optical signal while other neurons can detect the fluctuation of temperature, and these physical signals can be transmitted into bioelectric signals. The collective behaviors of neurons are dependent on the cooperation between neurons with different biophysical functions. In this paper, electronical synapse connection between the light-dependent neuron and thermosensitive neuron is activated to detect possible occurrence of phase synchronization. The light-dependent neuron is obtained from a neural circuit driven by photocurrent generated from the phototube, which external optical signal can be captured. The thermosensitive neuron is mapped from a neural circuit in which a thermistor is connected to percept the changes of temperature. When the two functional neurons are activated, it is found that phase synchronization/lock can be obtained by changing the intensity in the coupling channel. In addition, phase synchronization can be enhanced even in the presence of noise. The Hamilton energy is also calculated, and it is confirmed that two neurons are out of energy balance under phase synchronization. Finally, noise is applied for the coupled neurons, it is found that the involvement of noise can enhance the phase synchronization, and neurons in phase lock keep robustness to external noise. It indicates that neurons in different functional regions can keep pace with each other in the presence of phase synchronization, in this way, target gaits can be reached under the cooperation between different functional neurons stimulated by signals from different input channels. It provides possible guidance to design and regulate the synchronous behaviors of artificial neurons.