Bifurcations of Emergent Bursting in a Neuronal Network

Currently we routinely develop a complex neuronal network to explain observed but often paradoxical phenomena based upon biological recordings. Here we present a general approach to demonstrate how to mathematically tackle such a complex neuronal network so that we can fully understand the underlying mechanism. Using an oxytocin network developed earlier as an example, we show how we can reduce a complex model with many variables to a tractable model with two variables, while retaining all key qualitative features of the model. The approach enables us to uncover how emergent synchronous bursting could arise from a neuronal network which embodies all known biological features. Surprisingly, the discovered mechanisms for bursting are similar to those found in other systems reported in the literature, and illustrate a generic way to exhibit emergent and multi-time scale spikes: at the membrane potential level and the firing rate level.