COMPUTER-SIMULATIONS OF NEURONAL SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION - THE ROLE OF NONLINEAR DYNAMICS AND NOISE

Nonlinear ionic interactions at the nerve cell membrane can account fo r oscillating membrane potentials and the generation of periodic neuro nal impulse activity. In combination with noise, external modulation o f the endogenous oscillations allows for continuous transitions betwee n a variety of impulse patterns. Such ''noisy oscillators'' afford, th ereby, an important mechanism of neuronal encoding as is demonstrated herewith experimental data from peripheral cold receptors and correspo nding computer simulations.