  We study stochastic dynamics of an ensemble of N globally coupled excitable
elements. Each element is modeled by a FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillator and is
disturbed by independent Gaussian noise. In simulations of the Langevin
dynamics we characterize the collective behavior of the ensemble in terms of
its mean field and show that with the increase of noise the mean field displays
a transition from a steady equilibrium to global oscillations and then, for
sufficiently large noise, back to another equilibrium. Diverse regimes of
collective dynamics ranging from periodic subthreshold oscillations to
large-amplitude oscillations and chaos are observed in the course of this
transition. In order to understand details and mechanisms of noise-induced
dynamics we consider a thermodynamic limit $N\to\infty$ of the ensemble, and
derive the cumulant expansion describing temporal evolution of the mean field
fluctuations. In the Gaussian approximation this allows us to perform the
bifurcation analysis; its results are in good agreement with dynamical
scenarios observed in the stochastic simulations of large ensembles.
