Coexistence between silent and bursting states in a biophysical Hodgkin-Huxley-type of model

Classification of the dynamical mechanisms that support bistability between bursting oscillations and silence has not yet been clarified in detail. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the coexistence of a stable equilibrium point with a state of continuous bursting can occur in a slightly modified, biophysical model that describe the dynamics of pancreatic beta-cells.

To realize this form of coexistence, we have introduced an additional voltage-dependent potassium current that is activated in the region around the original, unstable equilibrium point. It is interesting to note that this modification also leads the model to display a blue-sky catastrophe in the transition region between chaotic and bursting states.