Multiple synchronization transitions due to periodic coupling strength in delayed Newman-Watts networks of chaotic bursting neurons

In this paper, we numerically study the effect of time-periodic coupling strength on the synchronization of firing activity in delayed Newman-Watts networks of chaotic bursting neurons. We first examine how the firing synchronization transitions induced by time delay under fixed coupling strength changes in the presence of time-periodic coupling strength, and then focus on how time-periodic coupling strength induces synchronization transitions in the networks. It is found that time delay can induce more synchronization transitions in the presence of time-periodic coupling strength compared to fixed coupling strength. As the frequency of time-periodic coupling strength is varied, the firing exhibits multiple synchronization transitions between spiking antiphase synchronization and in-phase synchronization of various firing behaviors including bursting, spiking, and both bursting and spiking, depending on the values of time delay. These results show that time-periodic coupling strength can increase the synchronization transitions by time delay and can induce multiple synchronization transitions of various firing behaviors in the neuronal networks. This means that time-periodic coupling strength plays an important role in the information processing and transmission in neural systems.