stochastic Resonance: A New Concept of Neural Coding

Stochastic resonance is a common phenomenon allowing for the detection of weak signals amidst substantial background noise, which, peculiarly, is a necessary component. The concept of stochastic resonance is reviewed, together with several recent studies demonstrating its role in neural systems coding. Models in which stochastic resonance is applied to sensory afferent behavior predict accurately some of the firing properties in vertebrate nerve preparations. Stochastic resonance has recently been shown to be operant in the human PNS, in both muscle spindles and cutaneous afferents. It may offer clues as to how the nervous system sustains our fine discriminative abilities.