Vibrational Resonance and Electrical Activity Behavior of a Fractional-Order FitzHugh–Nagumo Neuron System

Making use of the numerical simulation method, the phenomenon of vibrational resonance and electrical activity behavior of a fractional-order FitzHugh–Nagumo neuron system excited by two-frequency periodic signals are investigated. Based on the definition and properties of the Caputo fractional derivative, the fractional L1 algorithm is applied to numerically simulate the phenomenon of vibrational resonance in the neuron system. Compared with the integer-order neuron model, the fractional-order neuron model can relax the requirement for the amplitude of the high-frequency signal and induce the phenomenon of vibrational resonance by selecting the appropriate fractional exponent. By introducing the time-delay feedback, it can be found that the vibrational resonance will occur with periods in the fractional-order neuron system, i.e., the amplitude of the low-frequency response periodically changes with the time-delay feedback. The weak low-frequency signal in the system can be significantly enhanced by selecting the appropriate time-delay parameter and the fractional exponent. In addition, the original integer-order model is extended to the fractional-order model, and the neuron system will exhibit rich dynamical behaviors, which provide a broader understanding of the neuron system.