  We investigate the synchronization behavior and the emergence of chimera
states in a system of two interacting populations of maps possessing chaotic
neural-like dynamics. We characterize four collective states on the space of
coupling parameters of the system: complete synchronization, generalized
synchronization, chimera states, and incoherence. We quantify the information
exchange between the two neuron populations in chimera states. We have found a
well-defined direction of the flow of information in chimera states, from the
desynchronized population to the synchronized one. The incoherent population
functions as a driver of the coherent neuron population in a chimera state.
This feature is independent of the population sizes or population partitions.
Our results yield insight into the communication mechanisms arising in brain
processes such as unihemispheric sleep and epileptic seizures that have been
associated to chimera states.
