Explosive synchronization enhances selectivity: Example of the cochlea

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• 作者：Chao-Qing Wang ; Alain Pumir ; Nicolas B. Garnier ; Zong-Hua Liu
• 关键词：cochlea ; frequency selectivity ; periodical forcing ; explosive synchronization
• 刊名：Frontiers of Physics
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：October 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：12
• 期：5
• 全文大小：534 KB
• 刊物类别：Physics and Astronomy
• 刊物主题：Physics
  Chinese Library of Science
  
• 出版者：Higher Education Press, co-published with Springer-Verlag GmbH
• ISSN：2095-0470
• 卷排序：12

文摘

Acoustical signal transduction in the cochlea is an active process that involves nonlinear amplification and spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. Signal transduction involves individual subunits composed of globally coupled hair cells, which can be modeled as oscillators close to a Hopf bifurcation. The coupling may induce a transition toward synchronization, which in turn leads to a strong nonlinear response. In the model studied here, the synchronization transition of the subunit is discontinuous (explosive) in the absence of an external stimulus. We show that, in the presence of an external stimulus and for a coupling strength slightly lower than the critical value leading to explosive synchronization, the response of the subunit has better frequency selectivity and a larger signal-to-noise ratio. From physiological observations that subunits are themselves coupled together, we further propose a model of the complete cochlea, accounting for the ensemble of frequencies that the organ is able to detect.