Related papers: Cellular switches orchestrate rhythmic circuits
Collective oscillation of cells in a population has been reported under diverse biological contexts and with vastly different molecular constructs. Could there be common principles similar to those that govern spontaneous oscillation in…
Models of cortical neuronal circuits commonly depend on inhibitory feedback to control gain, provide signal normalization, and to selectively amplify signals using winner-take-all (WTA) dynamics. Such models generally assume that excitatory…
Humans and animals developed a sophisticated motor control apparatus and there is much evidence that it has a modular structure. The modularity offers a range of benefits, e.g. ability to learn dissociable motion styles without interference…
The molecular network in an organism consists of transcription/translation regulation, protein-protein interactions/modifications and a metabolic network, together forming a system that allows the cell to respond sensibly to the multiple…
Associative learning is one of the key mechanisms displayed by living organisms in order to adapt to their changing environments. It was early recognized to be a general trait of complex multicellular organisms but also found in "simpler"…
Cellular decision making is based on regulatory circuits that associate signal thresholds to specific physiological actions. This transmission of information is subjected to molecular noise what can decrease its fidelity. Here, we show…
The theta rhythm is important for many cognitive functions including spatial processing, memory encoding, and memory recall. The information processing underlying these functions is thought to rely on consistent, phase-specific spiking…
Diluted neural networks with continuous neurons and nonmonotonic transfer function are studied, with both fixed and dynamic synapses. A noisy stimulus with periodic variance results in a mechanism for controlling chaos in neural systems…
Most neurons in peripheral sensory pathways initially respond vigorously when a preferred stimulus is presented, but adapt as stimulation continues. It is unclear how this phenomenon affects stimulus representation in the later stages of…
We construct a model of cell reprogramming (the conversion of fully differentiated cells to a state of pluripotency, known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs) which builds on key elements of cell biology viz. cell cycles and cell…
Living organisms must respond to environmental changes. Generally, accurate and rapid responses are provided by simple, unidirectional networks that connect inputs with outputs. Besides accuracy and speed, biological responses should also…
The genetic regulatory network (GRN) plays a key role in controlling the response of the cell to changes in the environment. Although the structure of GRNs has been the subject of many studies, their large scale structure in the light of…
Biological phenomena differ significantly from physical phenomena. At the heart of this distinction is the fact that biological entities have computational abilities and thus they are inherently difficult to predict. This is the reason why…
The stability of complex networks, from power grids to biological systems, is crucial for their proper functioning. It is thus important to control such systems to maintain or restore their stability. Traditional approaches rely on…
The migration of cells is relevant for processes such as morphogenesis, wound healing, and invasion of cancer cells. In order to move, single cells deform cyclically. However, it is not understood how these shape oscillations influence…
Coherent oscillatory activity can arise spontaneously as a result of increased coupling in a system of excitable and passive cells, each being quiescent in isolation. This can potentially explain the appearance of spontaneous rhythmic…
Population-wide oscillations are ubiquitously observed in mesoscopic signals of cortical activity. In these network states a global oscillatory cycle modulates the propensity of neurons to fire. Synchronous activation of neurons has been…
Cell signaling, gene expression, and metabolism are affected by cell-cell heterogeneity and random changes in the environment. The effects of such fluctuations on cell signaling and gene expression have recently been studied intensively…
Many biological systems can sense periodical variations in a stimulus input and produce well-timed, anticipatory responses after the input is removed. Such systems show memory effects for retaining timing information in the stimulus and…
The possibility that evolutionary forces -- together with a few fundamental factors such as thermodynamic constraints, specific computational features enabling information processing, and ecological processes -- might constrain the logic of…