Abstract. Noise effects on coherence resonance and synchronization of Hindmarsh–Rose (HR) neuron model are studied. The coherence resonance of a single HR neuron with Gaussian white noise added to the membrane potential is investigated in situations before, near and after the Hopf bifurcation, separately, with the external direct current as a bifurcation parameter. It is shown that even though there is no coupling between neurons, uncoupled identical HR neurons driven by a common noise can achieve complete synchronization when the noise intensity is higher than a critical value. Furthermore, noise also enhances complete synchronization of weakly coupled neurons. It is concluded that synchronization in bursting neurons is easier to be induced than in spiking ones and coupling enhances the sensitivity of synchronization of neurons to noise stimulus.

Keywords: coherence resonance, synchronization, Hindmarsh–Rose neuron, Gaussian white noise

PACC numbers: 0545, 4350, 8725

Print publication: Issue 6 (June 2005)
Received 10 October 2004, in final form 04 March 2005