Subthreshold and suprathreshold vibrational resonance in the FitzHugh-Nagumo neuron model.

We study the subthreshold and suprathreshold vibrational resonance in the FitzHugh-Nagumo neuron model. For the subthreshold situation, two cases where the stationary states are equilibrium point and limit cycle are considered, where different natures of vibrational resonance are observed via theoretical and numerical methods. Especially when the frequency of the high-frequency driving force is near the so-called canard-resonance frequency, the firing rate can be significantly enhanced at the presence of noise. For the suprathreshold situation, we show that the local maxima of the response amplitude are located at the transition boundaries of different phase-locking patterns. The minimal required forcing amplitudes of high-frequency signal of the firing onset are just multiples of the spiking frequency. Furthermore, phase portraits and time series show that the presence of the global maxima of the response results from not only the suprathreshold but also the subthreshold phase-locking modes. In spite of the distinct characteristics for two stationary states on subthreshold oscillation, the suprathreshold vibrational resonance showed no qualitative difference between the two cases.