Respiratory entrainment of the locus coeruleus modulates arousal level to avoid physical risks from external vibration.

Slow rocking chairs can easily put people to sleep, while violent shaking, such as during earthquakes, may lead to rapid awakening. However, the influence of external body vibrations on arousal remains unclear. Herein, a computational model of a locus coeruleus (LC)-norepinephrine (NE) system and cardio-respiratory system were used to show that respiratory entrainment of the LC modulates arousal levels, which is an adaptation to avoid physical risks from external vibration.

Spike-induced ordering: Stochastic neural spikes provide immediate adaptability to the sensorimotor system.

Most biological neurons exhibit stochastic and spiking action potentials. However, the benefits of stochastic spikes versus continuous signals other than noise tolerance and energy efficiency remain largely unknown. In this study, we provide an insight into the potential roles of stochastic spikes, which may be beneficial for producing on-site adaptability in biological sensorimotor agents.

Bodily motion fluctuation improves reaching success rate in a neurophysical agent via geometric-stochastic resonance.

Organisms generate a variety of noise types, including neural noise, sensory noise, and noise resulting from fluctuations associated with movement. Sensory and neural noises are known to induce stochastic resonance (SR), which improves information transfer to the subjects control systems, including the brain. As a consequence, sensory and neural noise provide behavioral benefits, such as stabilization of posture and enhancement of feeding efficiency.

Growth of stochastic resonance in neuronal ensembles with the input signal intensity.

The presence of noise can improve the response of certain nonlinear systems to input signals through the effects of stochastic resonance (SR). The optimal noise intensity for SR is proportional to the signal frequency if the signal is periodic, but proportional to the signal intensity if the signal is aperiodic. Here, we demonstrate using linear response theory that the optimal noise intensity for SR is necessarily dependent on the signal intensity even if the signal is periodic.