Bifurcation of periodic activity from periodic activity in a molluscan neurone

The response of a molluscan neurone to intra-somatic micro-iontophoresis of TEA⁺ is a periodic discharge of action potentials that bifurcates into doublet, triplet and bursting discharges, and then through regular, small amplitude oscillations to a depolarized steady state. This response pattern is explained by the presence of two TEA⁺-sensitive, K⁺-selective conductances: we conjecture that the maximal fast, transient K⁺-conductance acts as the bifurcation parameter.