Effects of autaptic coupling stregth and ion channel blockage on firing regularity in a Hodgkin-Huxley neuron

Abstract

We investigate how firing dynamics of neuron changes with the autpse's coupling strength for different ratio of the blockage of potassium and sodium ion channels embedded in membranes affects, with using a biophysically more realistic Hodgkin-Huxley neuron model. In the study, we assume that neuron has an excitatory chemical autapse. It is found that the neuron dynamics does not change for too small coupling strength whether it increases after a certain coupling strength' value in case of different ion channel blockage case. Besides, it is determined that potassium ion channel blockage has a healing effect whereas sodium ion channel blockage has a destructive effect on the neuron dynamics increasing with the autaptic coupling strength.