Balancing at the border of instability.
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
; 68(2 Pt 1): 020901, 2003 Aug.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-14524945
ABSTRACT
Some biological systems operate at the critical point between stability and instability, and this requires a fine tuning of parameters. We bring together two examples from the literature that illustrate this neural integration in the nervous system and hair cell oscillations in the auditory system. In both examples the question arises as to how the required fine tuning may be achieved and maintained in a robust and reliable way. We study this question using tools from nonlinear and adaptive control theory. We illustrate our approach on a simple model which captures some of the essential features of neural integration. As a result, we propose a large class of feedback adaptation rules that may be responsible for the experimentally observed robustness of neural integration. We mention extensions of our approach to the case of hair cell oscillations in the ear.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Models, Biological
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
Journal subject:
BIOFISICA
/
FISIOLOGIA
Year:
2003
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bélgica