  We study statistical properties of the irregular bursting arising in a class
of neuronal models close to the transition from spiking to bursting. Prior to
the transition to bursting, the systems in this class develop chaotic
attractors, which generate irregular spiking. The chaotic spiking gives rise to
irregular bursting. The duration of bursts near the transition can be very
long. We describe the statistics of the number of spikes and the interspike
interval distributions within one burst as functions of the distance from
criticality.
