NON-GAUSSIAN NOISE-INDUCED FIRING TRANSITIONS AND ORDERED BURSTING IN A THERMO-SENSITIVE NEURON

In this letter, we investigate how a particular kind of non-Gaussian colored noise (NGN), especially the correlation time τ and the departure q from Gaussian noise, affects the chaotic firing behavior in a thermo-sensitive neuron. It is found that transitions between spiking and bursting occur with changing τ or q, and ordered bursting appears when τ is optimal. As τ is increased, the neuron alternately exhibits spiking and bursting when q < 1, but always bursts when q > 1, and chaotic bursts may become ordered at an optimal τ. As q is increased, the neuron also exhibits transitions between spiking and bursting. These findings provide a new mechanism for the firing transitions in the neuron and present the constructive role of the NGN in the firing activity in the neuron. This reveals that the NGN would play subtle roles in the communication and information processing in the neurons.