Stochastic birhythmicity outside the coexistence region in the Hindmarsh-Rose model

Abstract: In this work, we demonstrate that the Hindmarsh-Rose model subjected to additive white noise exhibits birhythmicity. Specifically, the system fluctuates between two distinct bursting attractors characterized by different numbers of spikes. This behavior is observed not only within the bistable region bounded by two saddle-node bifurcations of limit cycles but also beyond these boundaries. This phenomenon is associated with the ghost effect, typically observed near deterministic saddle-node bifurcations. We map the region of stochastic birhythmicity in terms of the noise intensity and a key deterministic parameter that controls the dynamics of fast ion channels. To provide an analytical foundation, we introduce a simple stochastic model with a single saddle-node bifurcation. In this model, stochastic birhythmicity is similarly characterized as a function of noise intensity and the control parameter.