Experimental study of electrical MFHN neurons

We present an electronical analogue circuit modelling a FitzHugh-Nagumo neuron with a modified excitability. To characterize this basic cell, the bifurcation curves between stability with excitation threshold, bistability and oscillations are investigated. An electrical circuit is then proposed to realize an unidirectional coupling between two cells, mimicking an inter-neuron synpatic coupling. In such a master-slave configuration, we show experimentally how the coupling strength control the dynamic of the slave neuron, leading to frequency locking, chaotic behavior and synchronization. These phenomena are then studied by phase map analysis. The architecture of a possible neural network is then described introducing different kind of coupling between neurons.