Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 226, 1911-1920 (2017)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2017-70060-2

Regular Article

Synchronization in network motifs of delay-coupled map-based neurons

¹ Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km. 4.5, 42074 Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico
² Center for Biomedical Technology, Technical University of Madrid, Campus Montegancedo, Pozuelo de Alarcón, 28223 Madrid, Spain
³ Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica, Loma del Bosque, 115, Col. Lomas del Campestre, 37150 León, Guanajuato, Mexico
⁴ Yuri Gagarin Saratov State Technical University, Politehnicheskaya, 77, Saratov, 410056, Russia

^a e-mail: alexander.pisarchik@ctb.upm.es

Received: 17 February 2017
Revised: 26 February 2017
Published online: 21 June 2017

Abstract

We study the influence of delayed coupling on synchronization in neural network motifs. Numerical simulations based on the Rulkov map reveal different behavior in the presence and in the absence of the delay. While without delay, synchronization improves as the coupling strength is increased, in the presence of a delay, synchronization becomes worse. We also study how a feedback loop affects synchronization. An increase in the number of neurons involved in the loop leads to desynchronization in the motifs, saturating at a certain value of the synchronization index.