Related papers: Cellular function given parametric variation: exci…
The Hodgkin-Huxley model of nerve pulse propagation relies on ion currents through specific resistors called ion channels. We discuss a number of classical thermodynamic findings on nerves that are not contained in this classical theory.…
The Hodgkin-Huxley model describes action potential generation in certain types of neurons and is a standard model for conductance-based, excitable cells. Following the early work of Winfree and Best, this paper explores the response of a…
Serotonergic, noradrenergic and dopaminergic brainstem (including midbrain) neurons, often exhibit spontaneous and fairly regular spiking with frequencies of order a few Hz, though dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurons only exhibit such…
We consider a stochastic version of the Wilson-Cowan model which accommodates for discrete populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. The model assumes a finite carrying capacity with the two populations being constant in size. The…
Recent experimental and theoretical studies show that energy efficiency, which measures the amount of information processed by a neuron with per unit of energy consumption, plays an important role in the evolution of neural systems. Here,…
In the last fifteen years a debate emerged about the validity of the famous Hodgkin-Huxley model for nerve impulse. Mechanical models have been proposed. This note reviews the experimental properties of the nerve impulse and discusses the…
We show that a recent reformulation of hydrodynamic equations for a large class of models consisting of q-dits on a graph with short range interactions is sufficient for understanding chaotic behavior. Any such system consists of large…
We introduce a method for computing probabilities for spontaneous activity and propagation fail- ure of the action potential in spatially extended, conductance-based neuronal models subject to channel noise, based on statistical properties…
We discuss a micro-swimmer model made of three spheres actuated by an internal active time-periodic force, tied by an elastic potential and submitted to hydrodynamic interactions with thermal noise. The dynamical approach we use, replacing…
Memristors stand out as promising components in the landscape of memory and computing. Memristors are generally defined by a conductance equation containing a state variable that imparts a memory effect. The current-voltage cycling causes…
Heterogeneity in biological molecules, resulting in molecule-to-molecule variations in their dynamics and function, is an emerging theme. To elucidate the consequences of heterogeneous behavior at the single molecule level, we propose an…
In a succession of articles published over 65 years ago, Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley established what now forms our physical understanding of excitation in nerve, and how the axon conducts the action potential.…
The vertex model is widely used to describe the dynamics of epithelial tissues, because of its simplicity and versatility and the direct inclusion of biophysical parameters. Here, it is shown that quite generally, when cells modify their…
We measure different contributions to entropy production in a living functional epithelial tissue. We do this by extracting the functional dynamics of development while at the same time quantifying fluctuations. Using the translucent…
Many cellular components are present in such low numbers that individual stochastic production and degradation events lead to significant fluctuations in molecular abundances. Although feedback control can, in principle, suppress such…
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…
This paper presents an overview of some techniques and concepts coming from dynamical system theory and used for the analysis of dynamical neural networks models. In a first section, we describe the dynamics of the neuron, starting from the…
Hill's equations arise in a wide variety of physical problems, and are specified by a natural frequency, a periodic forcing function, and a forcing strength parameter. This classic problem is generalized here in two ways: [A] to Random…
Genes are connected in complex networks of interactions where often the product of one gene is a transcription factor that alters the expression of another. Many of these networks are based on a few fundamental motifs leading to switches…
Experiments on single ionic channels have contributed to a large extent to our current view on the function of cell membrane. In these experiments the main observables are the physical quantities: ionic concentration, membrane electrostatic…