{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/28664"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/28664","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Nonlinear dynamics and statistical physics of excitable systems","abstract":"In the search for the mechanisms of neuronal information coding, attention has recently shifted towards the possible role of neuronal firing correlation. The present thesis addresses the question of how coupled neuronal systems synchronize. Neurons can be described as dynamical systems through the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations. The Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations yield either excitable system behavior or oscillator dynamics, depending on a control parameter. Since the neurons are microscopic objects in a fluctuating environment, it is important to add noise to the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol dynamics in order to achieve a realistic description of neuronal behavior. Our aim is to understand how the dynamical properties of an ensemble of coupled noisy dynamical systems depend on the properties of its constituents and on the coupling between these constituents. Our calculations and simulations describe two different transitions between phases with uncorrelated neuronal firing and with synchronous neuronal firing. The dynamical system which we investigate is of a very general nature and its study therefore allows us to draw some general conclusions. First, as far as dynamical systems are concerned, the study leads to a reappraisal of the role of Hopf bifurcations in the emergence of limit cycles in stochastic dynamical systems. Second, as far as neuronal systems are concerned, our investigations indicate that firing synchronicity is fairly common in a large variety of neuronal systems, and draw the attention to the change of firing frequency that accompanies the synchronization transition.","abstract_html":"In the search for the mechanisms of neuronal information coding, attention has recently shifted towards the possible role of neuronal firing correlation. The present thesis addresses the question of how coupled neuronal systems synchronize. Neurons can be described as dynamical systems through the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations. The Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations yield either excitable system behavior or oscillator dynamics, depending on a control parameter. Since the neurons are microscopic objects in a fluctuating environment, it is important to add noise to the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol dynamics in order to achieve a realistic description of neuronal behavior. Our aim is to understand how the dynamical properties of an ensemble of coupled noisy dynamical systems depend on the properties of its constituents and on the coupling between these constituents. Our calculations and simulations describe two different transitions between phases with uncorrelated neuronal firing and with synchronous neuronal firing. The dynamical system which we investigate is of a very general nature and its study therefore allows us to draw some general conclusions. First, as far as dynamical systems are concerned, the study leads to a reappraisal of the role of Hopf bifurcations in the emergence of limit cycles in stochastic dynamical systems. Second, as far as neuronal systems are concerned, our investigations indicate that firing synchronicity is fairly common in a large variety of neuronal systems, and draw the attention to the change of firing frequency that accompanies the synchronization transition.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kurrer, Christian Martin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Physics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Schulten, Klaus J."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-20T17:57:19Z","date_published":"2012-01-20T17:57:19Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:27Z","subjects":["neuronal information coding","excitable systems","neurons"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["1994 Christian Martin Kurrer"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/28664","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Schulten, Klaus J."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kurrer, Christian Martin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012-01-20T17:57:19Z","10000-01-01","1994"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation / Thesis","text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["neuronal information coding","excitable systems","neurons"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["1994 Christian Martin Kurrer"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/28664"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["In the search for the mechanisms of neuronal information coding, attention has recently shifted towards the possible role of neuronal firing correlation. The present thesis addresses the question of how coupled neuronal systems synchronize. Neurons can be described as dynamical systems through the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations. The Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations yield either excitable system behavior or oscillator dynamics, depending on a control parameter. Since the neurons are microscopic objects in a fluctuating environment, it is important to add noise to the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol dynamics in order to achieve a realistic description of neuronal behavior. Our aim is to understand how the dynamical properties of an ensemble of coupled noisy dynamical systems depend on the properties of its constituents and on the coupling between these constituents. Our calculations and simulations describe two different transitions between phases with uncorrelated neuronal firing and with synchronous neuronal firing. The dynamical system which we investigate is of a very general nature and its study therefore allows us to draw some general conclusions. First, as far as dynamical systems are concerned, the study leads to a reappraisal of the role of Hopf bifurcations in the emergence of limit cycles in stochastic dynamical systems. Second, as far as neuronal systems are concerned, our investigations indicate that firing synchronicity is fairly common in a large variety of neuronal systems, and draw the attention to the change of firing frequency that accompanies the synchronization transition.","Submitted by Carolyn Rauber (crauber2@illinois.edu) on 2012-01-20T17:57:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 1994_kurrer.pdf: 2715705 bytes, checksum: cbda5edf75c69d01a4831efc079fd29e (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2012-01-20T17:57:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1994_kurrer.pdf: 2715705 bytes, checksum: cbda5edf75c69d01a4831efc079fd29e (MD5) Previous issue date: 1994","Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:09:57-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: dissertation","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Carolyn Rauber (crauber2@illinois.edu) on 2012-01-20T17:57:19Z Item is restricted indefinitely.","dissertation","U of I Only"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nonlinear dynamics and statistical physics of excitable systems"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Schulten, Klaus J."],"dc:creator":["Kurrer, Christian Martin"],"dc:date":["2012-01-20T17:57:19Z","10000-01-01","1994"],"dc:description":["In the search for the mechanisms of neuronal information coding, attention has recently shifted towards the possible role of neuronal firing correlation. The present thesis addresses the question of how coupled neuronal systems synchronize. Neurons can be described as dynamical systems through the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations. The Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol equations yield either excitable system behavior or oscillator dynamics, depending on a control parameter. Since the neurons are microscopic objects in a fluctuating environment, it is important to add noise to the Bonhoeffer-Van der Pol dynamics in order to achieve a realistic description of neuronal behavior. Our aim is to understand how the dynamical properties of an ensemble of coupled noisy dynamical systems depend on the properties of its constituents and on the coupling between these constituents. Our calculations and simulations describe two different transitions between phases with uncorrelated neuronal firing and with synchronous neuronal firing. The dynamical system which we investigate is of a very general nature and its study therefore allows us to draw some general conclusions. First, as far as dynamical systems are concerned, the study leads to a reappraisal of the role of Hopf bifurcations in the emergence of limit cycles in stochastic dynamical systems. Second, as far as neuronal systems are concerned, our investigations indicate that firing synchronicity is fairly common in a large variety of neuronal systems, and draw the attention to the change of firing frequency that accompanies the synchronization transition.","Submitted by Carolyn Rauber (crauber2@illinois.edu) on 2012-01-20T17:57:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 1994_kurrer.pdf: 2715705 bytes, checksum: cbda5edf75c69d01a4831efc079fd29e (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2012-01-20T17:57:19Z (GMT). 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