Chaotic behavior in excitable systems.
This paper has dealt with biophysically accurate, or plausible, excitation systems. These are obtained from experiments, and so are complicated, often of high order, and are continually being updated by new experimental results. This is especially true for the excitation equations that represent cardiac tissue. Biophysically relevant problems require quantitatively accurate answers: What happens at what values of what parameter? Thus, numerical methods and results are important, and there is a strong tendency for both the model and the method of analysis to be given as computer algorithms; a current model for cardiac membrane dynamics is a computer package, and the use of path tracking procedures such as AUTO or PATH is becoming common. Perhaps the best way to proceed in the investigation of complicated and exotic dynamics in models of cardiac tissue would be to combine model formulation from voltage clamp data (the derivation of the excitation equations) with bifurcation, and even perhaps singularity theory analysis of dynamical systems, into an expert system.
Centre for Nonlinear Studies, University of Leeds, England.
A V
AV
Holden
M J
MJ
Lab
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000503:physiopathology; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000502:physiology*; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular
D002118:Calcium