Response clustering in transient stochastic synchronization and desynchronization of coupled neuronal bursters

We studied the transient dynamics of synchronized coupled neuronal bursters subjected to repeatedly applied stimuli, using a hybrid neuroelectronic system of paddlefish electroreceptors. We show experimentally that the system characteristically undergoes poststimulus transients, in which the relative phases of the oscillators may be grouped in several clusters, traversing alternate phase trajectories. These signature transient dynamics can be detected and characterized quantitatively using specific statistical measures based on a stochastic approach to transient oscillator responses.