Dynamics of neural systems with discrete and distributed time delays

In real-world systems, interactions between elements do not happen instantaneously, due to the time required for a signal to propagate, reaction times of individual elements, and so forth. Moreover, time delays are normally nonconstant and may vary with time. This means that it is vital to introduce time delays in any realistic model of neural networks. In order to analyze the fundamental properties of neural networks with time-delayed connections, we consider a system of two coupled two-dimensional nonlinear delay differential equations. This model represents a neural network, where one subsystem receives a delayed input from another subsystem. An exciting feature of the model under consideration is the combination of both discrete and distributed delays, where distributed time delays represent the neural feedback between the two subsystems, and the discrete delays describe the neural interaction within each of the two subsystems. Stability properties are investigated for different commonly used distribution kernels, and the results are compared to the corresponding results on stability for networks with no distributed delays. It is shown how approximations of the boundary of the stability region of a trivial equilibrium can be obtained analytically for the cases of delta, uniform, and weak gamma delay distributions. Numerical techniques are used to investigate stability properties of the fully nonlinear system, and they fully confirm all analytical findings

Hopf Bifurcation and Chaos in a Single Inertial Neuron Model with Time Delay

A delayed differential equation modelling a single neuron with inertial term is considered in this paper. Hopf bifurcation is studied by using the normal form theory of retarded functional differential equations. When adopting a nonmonotonic activation function, chaotic behavior is observed. Phase plots, waveform plots, and power spectra are presented to confirm the chaoticity.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Reverberating activity in a neural network with distributed signal transmission delays

It is known that an identical delay in all transmission lines can destabilize macroscopic stationarity of a neural network, causing oscillation or chaos. We analyze the collective dynamics of a network whose intra-transmission delays are distributed in time. Here, a neuron is modeled as a discrete-time threshold element that responds in an all-or-nothing manner to a linear sum of signals that arrive after delays assigned to individual transmission lines. Even though transmission delays are distributed in time, a whole network exhibits a single collective oscillation with a period close to the average transmission delay. The collective oscillation can not only be a simple alternation of the consecutive firing and resting, but also nontrivially sequenced series of firing and resting, reverberating in a certain period of time. Moreover, the system dynamics can be made quasiperiodic or chaotic by changing the distribution of delays.Comment: 8pages, 9figure

A delay-dependent LMI approach to dynamics analysis of discrete-time recurrent neural networks with time-varying delays

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright 2007 Elsevier Ltd.In this Letter, the analysis problem for the existence and stability of periodic solutions is investigated for a class of general discrete-time recurrent neural networks with time-varying delays. For the neural networks under study, a generalized activation function is considered, and the traditional assumptions on the boundedness, monotony and differentiability of the activation functions are removed. By employing the latest free-weighting matrix method, an appropriate Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional is constructed and several sufficient conditions are established to ensure the existence, uniqueness, and globally exponential stability of the periodic solution for the addressed neural network. The conditions are dependent on both the lower bound and upper bound of the time-varying time delays. Furthermore, the conditions are expressed in terms of the linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can be checked numerically using the effective LMI toolbox in MATLAB. Two simulation examples are given to show the effectiveness and less conservatism of the proposed criteria.This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 50608072, an International Joint Project sponsored by the Royal Society of the UK and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Asymptotic stability for neural networks with mixed time-delays: The discrete-time case

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link - Copyright 2009 Elsevier LtdThis paper is concerned with the stability analysis problem for a new class of discrete-time recurrent neural networks with mixed time-delays. The mixed time-delays that consist of both the discrete and distributed time-delays are addressed, for the first time, when analyzing the asymptotic stability for discrete-time neural networks. The activation functions are not required to be differentiable or strictly monotonic. The existence of the equilibrium point is first proved under mild conditions. By constructing a new Lyapnuov–Krasovskii functional, a linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach is developed to establish sufficient conditions for the discrete-time neural networks to be globally asymptotically stable. As an extension, we further consider the stability analysis problem for the same class of neural networks but with state-dependent stochastic disturbances. All the conditions obtained are expressed in terms of LMIs whose feasibility can be easily checked by using the numerically efficient Matlab LMI Toolbox. A simulation example is presented to show the usefulness of the derived LMI-based stability condition.This work was supported in part by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) of the UK under Grants BB/C506264/1 and 100/EGM17735, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK under Grants GR/S27658/01 and EP/C524586/1, an International Joint Project sponsored by the Royal Society of the UK, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China under Grant BK2007075, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 60774073, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Discrete-time recurrent neural networks with time-varying delays: Exponential stability analysis

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright 2007 Elsevier LtdThis Letter is concerned with the analysis problem of exponential stability for a class of discrete-time recurrent neural networks (DRNNs) with time delays. The delay is of the time-varying nature, and the activation functions are assumed to be neither differentiable nor strict monotonic. Furthermore, the description of the activation functions is more general than the recently commonly used Lipschitz conditions. Under such mild conditions, we first prove the existence of the equilibrium point. Then, by employing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, a unified linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach is developed to establish sufficient conditions for the DRNNs to be globally exponentially stable. It is shown that the delayed DRNNs are globally exponentially stable if a certain LMI is solvable, where the feasibility of such an LMI can be easily checked by using the numerically efficient Matlab LMI Toolbox. A simulation example is presented to show the usefulness of the derived LMI-based stability condition.This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK under Grant GR/S27658/01, the Nuffield Foundation of the UK under Grant NAL/00630/G, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Education Committee of China (05KJB110154), the NSF of Jiangsu Province of China (BK2006064), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10471119)

Delay-induced patterns in a two-dimensional lattice of coupled oscillators

We show how a variety of stable spatio-temporal periodic patterns can be created in 2D-lattices of coupled oscillators with non-homogeneous coupling delays. A "hybrid dispersion relation" is introduced, which allows studying the stability of time-periodic patterns analytically in the limit of large delay. The results are illustrated using the FitzHugh-Nagumo coupled neurons as well as coupled limit cycle (Stuart-Landau) oscillators

Mean-field equations for stochastic firing-rate neural fields with delays: Derivation and noise-induced transitions

In this manuscript we analyze the collective behavior of mean-field limits of large-scale, spatially extended stochastic neuronal networks with delays. Rigorously, the asymptotic regime of such systems is characterized by a very intricate stochastic delayed integro-differential McKean-Vlasov equation that remain impenetrable, leaving the stochastic collective dynamics of such networks poorly understood. In order to study these macroscopic dynamics, we analyze networks of firing-rate neurons, i.e. with linear intrinsic dynamics and sigmoidal interactions. In that case, we prove that the solution of the mean-field equation is Gaussian, hence characterized by its two first moments, and that these two quantities satisfy a set of coupled delayed integro-differential equations. These equations are similar to usual neural field equations, and incorporate noise levels as a parameter, allowing analysis of noise-induced transitions. We identify through bifurcation analysis several qualitative transitions due to noise in the mean-field limit. In particular, stabilization of spatially homogeneous solutions, synchronized oscillations, bumps, chaotic dynamics, wave or bump splitting are exhibited and arise from static or dynamic Turing-Hopf bifurcations. These surprising phenomena allow further exploring the role of noise in the nervous system.Comment: Updated to the latest version published, and clarified the dependence in space of Brownian motion