Noise-induced synchronization in a lattice Hodgkin-Huxley neural network

We examine how the synchronization of the series of action potentials (APs) of realistic neurons interconnected in a lattice is influenced by variations of both the direction and magnitude of neuron-neuron connectivity in a noisy environment. We first demonstrate the existence of an optimal noise level that brings about the highest average number of APs per unit time, for a single Hodgkin-Huxley neuron. We then show that synchronization, as a collective response of interconnected neurons forming an N x N lattice, is optimal at different noise strengths sigma(c) = sigma(c)(p), depending on the degree of random-link malfunction parameterized by flipping direction probability p. Thus, even without the scale-free structure of neuronal networks, proper combinations of both randomness in reconnection (flipping) and noisy environment can be beneficial to the collective functioning of neurons. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.