Multimodal transition and stochastic antiresonance in squid giant axons.

The experimental data of Takahashi [Physica D 43, 318 (1990)], on the response of squid giant axons stimulated by periodic sequence of short current pulses is interpreted within the Hodgkin-Huxley model. The minimum of the firing rate as a function of the stimulus amplitude I0 in the high-frequency regime is due to the multimodal transition. Below this singular point only odd multiples of the driving period remain and the system is sensitive to noise. The coefficient of variation has a maximum and the firing rate has a minimum as a function of the noise intensity, which is an indication of the stochastic coherence antiresonance. The model calculations reproduce the frequency of occurrence of the most common modes in the vicinity of the transition. A linear relation of output frequency vs I0 above the transition is also confirmed.