Power law behavior related to mutual synchronization of chemically coupled map neurons

The widely represented network motif, constituting an inhibitory pair of bursting neurons, is modeled by chaotic Rulkov maps, coupled chemically via symmetrical synapses. By means of phase plane analysis, that involves analytically obtaining the curves guiding the motion of the phase point, we show how the neuron dynamics can be explained in terms of switches between the noninteracting and interacting map. The developed approach provides an insight into the observed time series, highlighting the mechanisms behind the regimes of collective dynamics, including those concerning the emergent phenomena of partial and common oscillation death, hyperpolarization of membrane potential and the prolonged quiescence. The interdependence between the chaotic neuron series takes the form of intermittent synchronization, where the entrainment of membrane potential variables occurs within the sequences of finite duration. The contribution from the overlap of certain block sequences embedding emergent phenomena gives rise to the sudden increase of the parameter characterizing synchronization. We find its onset to follow a power law, that holds with respect to the coupling strength and the stimulation current. It is established how different types of synaptic threshold behavior, controlled by the gain parameter, influence the values of the scaling exponents.