title: Neuronal differentiation and synapse formation occur in space and time with fractal dimension.
abstract: The analysis of a set of experimental data obtained by an independent team of researchers confirms that neuronal differentiation or synapse formation do occur in time and space with fractal dimension. The interacting cells create first a dynamic system with its own attractor, (i.e., a fragment of time and space where the dynamic processes occur and where no further evolution of the system is possible at all owing to the action of the intrasystemic forces unless some extrasystemic forces act upon it). This attractor is then modified in the active manner by the differentiating cells until the system attains a degenerated stationary state and differentiation ends. The fractal structure of the system is also lost in the course of tumor progression. Our data indicate that the cellular system can attain the degenerated stationary state, leaving the attractor with a fractal dimension directly or undergoing diversification into many attractors and going through the areas of deterministic chaos. Since evolution of the cellular system is driven by the cooperative dynamic processes, as reflected by the changes of the mean fractal dimension between the intervals of the Gompertzian curve, it is likely that cells differentiate into neurons and create synapses with a conjugated probability and non-Gaussian distribution rather than with the classical probability and the Gaussian distribution. These findings can help to optimize features of artificial neural networks. They also define a simple in vitro biological model for biophysical and biochemical studies on natural neural networks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. WaliszP@amu.edu.pl
authors.forename: Przemyslaw
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Waliszewski
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Konarski
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D017709:Fractals; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013997:Time Factors; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology