Multiple periodic solutions in a delay-coupled system of neural oscillators

In this paper, effects of the synaptic delay of signal transmissions on the pattern formation of nonlinear waves in a bidirectional ring of neural oscillators is studied. Firstly, the linear stability of the model is investigated by analyzing the associated characteristic transcendental equation. Meanwhile, using the symmetric bifurcation theory of delay differential equations coupled with the representation theory of Lie groups, we discuss the spontaneous bifurcation of multiple branches of periodic solutions and their spatio-temporal patterns. Finally, Hopf bifurcation directions and corresponding stabilities of bifurcating periodic orbits are derived by using the normal form approach and the center manifold theory. These theoretical results are significant to complement experimental and numerical observations made in living neuronal systems and artificial neural networks, in order to better understand the mechanisms underlying the system’s dynamics.