Fluctuating excitability

ǂa ǂmechanism for self-sustained information flow in excitable arrays

Abstract

We show that the fluctuating excitability of FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons, constituting a diffusively coupled excitable array, can induce phase slips that lead to a symmetry break yielding a preferred spreading direction of excitatory events, thus enabling persistent self-sustained and self-organized information flow in a periodic array long after a localized stimulus perturbation has sized. Possible oscillation frequencies of the information-carrying signal are expressed analytically, and necessary conditions for the phenomenon are derived. Our results suggest that cellular diversity in neural tissue is crucial for maintaining self-sustained and organized activity in the brain even in the absence of immediate stimuli, thus facilitating continuous evolution of its mechanisms for information retrieval and storage.

Keywords

fizika;matematična fizika;oscilacije;fleksibilnost;kaos;kaotični sistemi;physics;complex systems;dynamical systems;flexibility;chaos;chaotic systems;oscillations;perturbation;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2007
Typology:	1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:	UM FNM - Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
UDC:	539.19
COBISS:	15191560
ISSN:	0960-0779
Views:	1609
Downloads:	82
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	English
Secondary keywords:	fizika;matematična fizika;oscilacije;fleksibilnost;kaos;kaotični sistemi;
URN:	URN:SI:UM:
Pages:	str. 1118-1124
Volume:	ǂVol. ǂ32
Issue:	ǂiss. ǂ3
Chronology:	2007
ID:	8724105