Nonlinear Dynamics of Neural Delayed Feedback

Abstract

Neural delayed feedback is a property shared by many circuits in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The evolution of the neural activity in these circuits depends on their present state as well as on their past states, due to finite propagation time of neural activity along the feedback loop. These systems are often seen to undergo a change from a quiescent state characterized by low level fluctuations to an oscillatory state. We discuss the problem of analyzing this transition using techniques from nonlinear dynamics and stochastic processes. Our main goal is to characterize the nonlinearities which enable autonomous oscillations to occur and to uncover the properties of the noise sources these circuits interact with. The concepts are illustrated on the human pupil light reflex (PLR) which has been studied both theoretically and experimentally using this approach. 5 refs., 3 figs.