Robust Synchronization in an E/I Network with Medium Synaptic Delay and High Level of Heterogeneity**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11102038, 11472061, 70971021, 71371046 and 61203325, the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation under Grant No 13ZR1400200, the Undergraduate Education Key Reform Project of Shanghai Universities under Grant No X12071306, and the Fundamental Research Funds for

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It is known that both excitatory and inhibitory neuronal networks can achieve robust synchronization only under certain conditions, such as long synaptic delay or low level of heterogeneity. In this work, robust synchronization can be found in an excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) neuronal network with medium synaptic delay and high level of heterogeneity, which often occurs in real neuronal networks. Two effects of post-synaptic potentials (PSP) to network synchronization are presented, and the synaptic contribution of excitatory and inhibitory neurons to robust synchronization in this E/I network is investigated. It is found that both excitatory and inhibitory neurons may contribute to robust synchronization in E/I networks, especially the excitatory PSP has a more positive effect on synchronization in E/I networks than that in excitatory networks. This may explain the strong robustness of synchronization in E/I neuronal networks.