Delayed feedback control of synchronous activity in a cortical neural network

Many neurological diseases are suggested to be caused by pathologically strong synchronization of neurons in cerebral cortex. A large-scale cortical network consisted of one-dimensional two-layer array of excitatory pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons, is constructed based on the map-based neuron model. When the coupling strength between neurons exceeds a critical value, the cortical network exhibits synchronous activity, manifesting a large-amplitude oscillatory mean field activity. Suppression of such synchronized behavior of the cortical network using linear delayed feedback control is investigated. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that effective synchronization suppression can be realized as soon as the delayed feedback signal is administered.