Effects of heterogeneity on information processing in biological neural networks

In this study, the information coding issue in the nervous system is investigated. By using mathematical equations for modeling the dynamics of the basic units of the system, which are neurons, the information processing performance of the neuron populations is systematically studied. As most of studies in the literature investigate the subject by considering neuron populations as homogenous systems, in this study, the populations are considered as heterogeneous in terms of neuronal excitability. The obtained results demonstrate that considering the heterogeneity of the populations provides significant advantages for the processing of neuronal information. It is shown that the neuron population exhibits maximal performance (resonance) for two different levels of network heterogeneity. Moreover, the influences of other biological parameters, forming the whole system, on this double-resonance phenomenon are investigated.