Self-organization collective dynamics of heterogeneous neurons with memristive and plastic chemical synapses

Hybrid synapses widely exist in the brain neural system, but how memristive and plastic chemical synapses cooperatively modulate the collective dynamics of neurons remains largely unknown. Here, we constructed self-organized networks with two heterogeneous FitzHugh–Nagumo (FHN) neurons coupled with memristive and chemical synapses, wherein the chemical synapse is modulated by the spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) rule. Additionally, three kinds of network models involving excitatory–excitatory ([Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] neurons, high excitatory–inhibitory (high [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text]) neurons and low excitatory–inhibitory (low [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text]) neurons were constructed. The modulation of memristive synapses on the structure and dynamics of self-organized neuronal networks is greatly dependent on model selection. Stronger coupling of memristive synapses induces consistently more stable network structure and enhanced network synchronization in the [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] and high [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] models but has complex effects on the low [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] neuronal network. In contrast, increasing the closing rate of memristive synapses has little effect on the [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] and high [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] networks but can accelerate the self-organization process and result in more complex firing patterns and weaker synchronization in the low [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] network. These results provide further understanding of the mechanism of the self-organized neuronal network dynamics underlying hybrid synapses and neuronal excitation.