Dynamical mechanism of anticipating synchronization in excitable systems

The anticipating synchronization regime and its stability have been
theoretically and experimentally studied in a wide variety of dynamical systems. However, the physical mechanism governing such a phenomenon is still unclear. In particular, it has been often described as a rather counterintuitive phenomenon because of the possibility of the slave system anticipating the unpredictable evolution of the master.
The aim of this work is to provide a simple dynamical interpretation of this regime in delayed coupled excitable systems, showing that the anticipation of the slave is due to a reduction of its excitability threshold induced by the delayed coupling term.