European Conference on Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (ECMTB 2026)

Existence of periodic traveling waves in neural fields with direction preference

17 Jul 2026, 09:30

20m

11.01 - HS (University of Graz)

Contributed Talk Neuroscience and Neural Systems Contributed Talks

Speaker

Maren Bråthen Kristoffersen (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)

Description

Since their introduction, neural fields have been a popular topic of research. However, most existing studies fix specific parameter choices or make physical approximations. The aim of this presentation is to provide a general and mathematically rigorous framework for traveling wave solutions in neural fields with direction preference, modeled by an asymmetric connectivity kernel, on a periodic domain (torus). The existence of traveling waves is proven by bifurcation theory. In addition, numerical bifurcation analyses will be presented to enhance understanding of the traveling waves beyond the theoretical results. Lastly, if time permits a discussion of the stability of these traveling waves will be included.