Mathematics Colloquia and Seminars

Return to Colloquia & Seminar listing

Inhibitory neurons appear to play critical roles in generating and maintaining rhythmic activity in the cortex. The mechanisms underlying this rhythmic activity are not well understood, but the rhythms seem to rely on the fact that inhibitory neurons are coupled by electrical synapses (diffusive coupling). I have recently studied single-compartment model neurons connected by electrical coupling and described how phase-locked states depend on intrinsic cellular properties and coupling strength. However, single-compartment models neglect the spatial structure of neurons. Here, I extend the previous work to examine models that include the neurons' spatial structure, and I show that altering the location of the coupling can substantially change the stability of phase-locked states.