title: Spiral wave generation in heterogeneous excitable media.
abstract: As the coupling in a heterogeneous excitable medium is reduced, three different types of behavior are encountered: plane waves propagate without breaking up, plane waves break up into spiral waves, and plane waves block. We illustrate these phenomena in monolayers of chick embryonic heart cells using calcium sensitive fluorescent dyes. Following the addition of heptanol, an agent that reduces the electrical coupling between cells, we observe breakup of spiral waves. These results are modeled in a heterogeneous cellular automaton model in which the neighborhood of interaction is modified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, McGill University, 3655 Drummond Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1Y6.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bub
authors.forename: Alvin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shrier
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Glass
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D019850:Heptanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D055095:Optics and Photonics
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D019850:Heptanol; D002118:Calcium