The derivation of continuum limits of neuronal networks with gap-junction couplings

Abstract: We consider an idealized network, formed by N neurons individually described by the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations and connected by electrical synapses. The limit for N to infinity of the resulting discrete model is thoroughly investigated, with the aim of identifying a model for a continuum of neurons having an equivalent behaviour. Two strategies for passing to the limit are analysed: i) a more conventional approach, based on a fixed nearest-neighbour connection topology accompanied by a suitable scaling of the diffusion coefficients; ii) a new approach, in which the number of connections to any given neuron varies with N according to a precise law, which simultaneously guarantees the non-triviality of the limit and the locality of neuronal interactions. Both approaches yield in the limit a pde-based model, in which the distribution of action potential obeys a nonlinear reaction-convection-diffusion equation; convection accounts for the possible lack of symmetry in the connection topology. Several convergence issues are discussed, both theoretically and numerically.