Propagation of the firing rate and synchronous firings in a 10-layer feed-forward neuronal network are studied. When neurons in layer 1 are subject to white noise, synchrony can be built up in deep layers and the firing rate can be propagated. A network with 6 layers is found to be enough for such behavior. A periodic signal with frequencies of 30–80 Hz can be selectively transmitted through the network. These abilities in information processing due to synchrony can be modulated by noise and the operating mode of neurons, and our results are relevant to experimental findings.

• Received 16 April 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.018103