Spiking at the edge: Excitability at interfaces in reaction-diffusion systems.

ABSTRACT: Excitable media, ranging from bioelectric tissues and chemical oscillators to forest fires and competing populations, are nonlinear, spatially extended systems capable of spiking. Most investigations of excitable media consider situations where the amplifying and suppressing forces necessary for spiking coexist at every point in space. In this case, spikes arise due to local bistabilities, which require a fine-tuned ratio between local amplification and suppression strengths. But, in nature and engineered systems, these forces can be segregated in space, forming structures like interfaces and boundaries. Here, we show how boundaries can generate and protect spiking when the reacting components can spread out: Even arbitrarily weak diffusion can cause spiking at the edge between two non-exc

SUBMITTER: Scheibner C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10801884 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature