Coherence Resonance in Random Erdös-Rényi Neural Networks: Mean-Field Theory

Additive noise is known to tune the stability of nonlinear systems. Using a network of two randomly connected interacting excitatory and inhibitory neural populations driven by additive noise, we derive a closed mean-field representation that captures the global network dynamics. Building on the spectral properties of Erdös-Rényi networks, mean-field dynamics are obtained via a projection of the network dynamics onto the random network’s principal eigenmode. We consider Gaussian zero-mean and Poisson-like noise stimuli to excitatory neurons and show that these noise types induce coherence resonance. Specifically, the stochastic stimulation induces coherent stochastic oscillations in the γ-frequency range at intermediate noise intensity. We further show that this is valid for both global stimulation and partial stimulation, i.e. whenever a subset of excitatory neurons is stimulated only. The mean-field dynamics exposes the coherence resonance dynamics in the γ-range by a transition from a stable non-oscillatory equilibrium to an oscillatory equilibrium via a saddle-node bifurcation. We evaluate the transition between non-coherent and coherent state by various power spectra, Spike Field Coherence and information-theoretic measures.