Bifurcation analysis of mode-locking structure in a Hodgkin-Huxley neuron under sinusoidal current

Abstract

Nervous systems under periodic stimuli display rich dynamical states including mode-locking and chaotic responses, which have been a subject of intense studies in neurodynamics. The bifurcation structure of the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron under sinusoidal stimulus is studied in detail. The mechanisms of the firing onset and rich firing dynamics are studied with the help of the codimension-2 bifurcations, which play the role of the organizing center for myriads of saddle-node, period-doubling, and inverse-flip bifurcations forming the boundaries of the complex mode-locking structure. This study provides a useful insight into the organization of similar bifurcation structures in excitable systems such as neurons under periodic forcing.