Stochastic resonance at the single-cell level

ABSTRACT Does the electricity with which we power our world pose significant health hazards from the resulting electromagnetic fields? Several authors1,2 have speculated that ‘stochastic

resonance’3 — a nonlinear phenomenon in which the addition of noise to a system increases its response to an external signal — may allow biological cells to detect and respond to very weak

external electric fields far below the thermal noise limit4,5, and thus possibly cause harmful effects. Here we examine this question using a recent theory of Bezrukov and Vodyanoy6 for the

effect of non-equilibrium noise on a voltage detector (such as a biological ion channel7). We show that with parameters appropriate for typical biological cells, adding noise does not make a

far-from-detectable signal detectable. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through

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E. & Moss, F. _Nature_ 365, 337–340 (1993). Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Departments of Surgery and of Biochemistry and Molecular

Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, 60637, Illinois, USA R. Dean Astumian * Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, 6520, Connecticut, USA R. K. Adair * Harvard-MIT

Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA James C. Weaver Authors * R. Dean Astumian View author publications

You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * R. K. Adair View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * James C. Weaver View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Astumian, R., Adair, R. &

Weaver, J. Stochastic resonance at the single-cell level. _Nature_ 388, 632–633 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/41684 Download citation * Issue Date: 14 August 1997 * DOI:

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