Neural spike renormalization. I: Universal number 1 (Q631886)

The generation of transient electrical bursts of spikes across neuron's excitable membranes is approximated by the map \(\psi_\mu : [0,1]\to [0,1]\), where \(\psi_\mu(x)= x+\mu\) if \( 0\leq x <1-\mu\), \(\psi_\mu(x)=0\) if \(1-\mu\leq x \leq 1\), \(0<\mu<1\). The right interval \(J_1=[1-\mu, 1]\) corresponds to the phase when transmembrane spikes are absent and the left interval \( J_0=[0,1-\mu]\) corresponds to the spiking phase. Isospiking bifurcation points \(\mu_n\) are considered: for \(\mu_{n+1}<\mu <\mu_n\) and for any point \(x_0\in J_1\), the orbit \( \{x_k=\psi_\mu^k(x_0), k\geq 0\} \) has \(x_1,\dots,x_n\in J_0\) and \(x_{n+1}\in J_1\). The aim of the paper is to show that one-dimensional maps, which more accurately approximate the generation of bursting spikes than the family \(\psi_\mu\), exhibit the same quantitative properties for the isospiking bifurcation; here a universal constant to the bifurcation of spike-bursts emerges in a similar way as the Feigenbaum's constant does to the period doubling bifurcation to chaos generation and the new universal constant is 1.