A model system for intracellular calcium oscillations was investigated when
the control parameter was perturbed by noise near a Hopf bifurcation point
. Noise-induced oscillations were observed. Furthermore, the output signal-
to-noise ratio (SNR) of the system went through a maximum with the incremen
t of noise intensity indicating the occurrence of internal stochastic reson
ance (SR), which showed the constructive role of noise at the cellular leve
l. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.