From quasiperiodic partial synchronization to collective chaos in populations of inhibitory neurons with delay

Collective chaos is shown to emerge, via a period-doubling cascade, from quasiperiodic partial synchronization in a population of identical inhibitory neurons with delayed global coupling. This system is thoroughly investigated by means of an exact model of the macroscopic dynamics, valid in the thermodynamic limit. The collective chaotic state is reproduced numerically with a finite population, and persists in the presence of weak heterogeneities. Finally, the relationship of the model’s dynamics with fast neuronal oscillations is discussed.