ANTIPHASE SOLUTIONS IN RELAXATION-OSCILLATORS COUPLED THROUGH EXCITATORY INTERACTIONS

Relaxation oscillators interacting via models of excitatory chemical s ynapses with sharp thresholds can have stable anti-phase as well as in -phase solutions. The mechanism for anti-phase demonstrated in this pa per relies on the fact that, in a large class of neural models, excita tory input slows down the receiving oscillator over a portion of its t rajectory. We analyze the effect of this ''virtual delay'' in an abstr act model, and then show that the hypotheses of that model hold for wi dely used descriptions of bursting neurons.