Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science

Major

Physics

Date of Defense

5-7-2015

Graduate Advisor

Sonya Bahar

Committee

Nevena Maric

Bob Henson

Abstract

A chimera state occurs when a group of identical oscillators divides into two subgroups, one with synchronized activity, and one with unsynchronized activity. Found commonly in Abrams-Strogatz and in Kuramoto coupling, this state has been studied in many media, such as chemical, mechanical, and optical. Similar simulations have been investigated for media not as easily studied experimentally, such as neurons. The theoretical basis of the chimera state is still under study. Here, the chimera state is studied in context of the Huber-Braun model for neurons, with the two aforementioned coupling schemes. Forms of the chimera state different from the norm are demonstrated, including transient (changes over time), phase-clustered (both subgroups synchronized, but with different types of activity), and partial chimeras (part of the incoherent subgroup synchronizes with the coherent subgroup). These results are important in the realm of neural synchronization, specifically in the context of unihemispheric slow wave sleep (USWS) observed in some mammalian and avian species, along with asymmetric eye closure (ASEC) in lizards and asymmetric sleep noted in apneic human patients.

OCLC Number

933614185

Download

Share

COinS