Role of Fluctuations in Biological Signal Transmission.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

(1) Mechanism of coding of biological signals and its role in self-protection against external stimulations and its fluctuations, and (2) the function of fluctuations contained in biological information transmission in relation to perception, cognition, judgment and memory. These two items are main targets of the present research. These subjects of research have not fully accomplished during the 3-year research, but remarkable progress has been achieved toward them through four meetings we had. The details of the achievements are given in the final report. We have found various positive phases of fluctuation phenomena in bodily motion of bacteria, heart rate, coherence of brain signals observed on the scalp and in brain cells. Meanings of fluctuations in spontaneous discharge intervals of cell membranes and in self-organization have been discussed from various respects. Phase transition of protein molecules and dynamics of nonequilibrium open systems were discussed from a statistical mechanical point of view. Topics on time reversibility, stationarity, and detailed balance of the nonequilibrium open system were found to be very important concepts in understanding biological phenomenon. Conclusively, a variety of problems have been discussed on biological functions from a physical point of view and a further progress is expected toward the final goal of the present research in the future.