Reliability of layered neural oscillator networks

Abstract

We study the reliability of large networks of pulse-coupled oscillators in response to fluctuating stimuli. Reliability means that a stimulus elicits essentially identical responses upon repeated presentations. We view the problem on two scales: neuronal reliability, which concerns the repeatability of spike times of individual oscillators embedded within a network, and pooled-response reliability, which addresses the repeatability of the total output from the network. We find that individual embedded oscillators can be reliable or unreliable depending on network conditions, whereas pooled responses of sufficiently large networks are mostly reliable.