A critical firing rate associated with tonic-to-bursting transitions in synchronized gap-junction coupled neurons

A transition between tonic and bursting neuronal behaviors is studied using a linear chain of three electrically coupled model neurons. Numerical simulations show that, depending on their individual dynamical states, the neurons first synchronize either in a tonic or in a bursting regime. Additionally, a characteristic firing rate, mediating tonic-to-bursting transitions in networked neurons, is found to be associated with a firing rate encountered in the single neuron’s equivalent transition. A few cases describing this peculiar phenomenon are presented.