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  • Letter
  • Open Access
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Noise-shaped synchrony in neuronal oscillator networks

Max Contreras* and Philipp Hövel†

  • Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, Campus E2 6, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany

  • *Contact author: mecontrl@gmx.de
  • †Contact author: philipp.hoevel@uni-saarland.de
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Phys. Rev. E 114, L022302 – Published 26 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sxl4-6mdm

Abstract

Stochastic fluctuations often act as promoters of activity in excitable and oscillatory systems, giving rise to phenomena such as coherence resonance. Here, we show that in the low-intensity regime, noise plays a dual role in weakly coupled neuronal units: It can both inhibit collective spiking and, with increasing intensity, restore coordinated activity. For a ring of diffusively coupled, oscillatory FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons, we demonstrate how the interplay of noise and coupling strength organizes a rich set of collective dynamical states. We systematically classify emergent dynamical scenarios by an in-depth time-series analysis that integrates multiple complementary measures. We are able to automatically identify five distinct dynamical clusters in parameter space: pure noise, quiescent state, noisy synchronization, complete synchronization, and intermittent switching. Our workflow provides a general, automated framework for characterizing collective dynamics in coupled oscillator networks.

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Phys. Rev. E 114, L022302– Published 26 August, 2026
  • Received 5 December 2025
  • Accepted 10 July 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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