STOCHASTIC RESONANCE AS A POSSIBLE MECHANISM OF AMPLIFICATION OF WEAKELECTRIC SIGNALS IN LIVING CELLS

The most important but still unresolved problem in bioelectromagnetics is the interaction of weak electromagnetic fields (EMFs) with living cells. Thermal and other types of noise pose restrictions in cell dete ction of weak signals. As a consequence, some extant experimental resu lts that indicate low-intensity field effects cannot be accounted for, and this renders the results themselves questionable. One way out of this dead end is to search for possible mechanisms of signal amplifica tion. In this paper, we discuss a general mechanism in which a weak si gnal is amplified by system noise itself. This mechanism was discovere d several years ago in physics and is known, in its simplest form, as a stochastic resonance. It was shown that signal amplification may exc eed a factor of 1000, which renders existing estimations of EMF thresh olds highly speculative. The applicability of the stochastic resonance concept to cells is discussed particularly with respect to the possib le role of the cell membrane in the amplification process. (C) 1994 Wi ley-Liss, Inc.