Nonlinearities in Biology: The Brain as an Example

The human brain is probably the most complex system we know. The number of its individual parts, the neurons, is estimated to be one hundred billions. A neuron can be connected with up to ten thousand other neurons. Other characteristic features of neurons have long been studied, and this field is still subject of intense investigations both experimental and theoretical [1], [3], [11], [30]. At any rate it is well-established that neurons are highly nonlinear elements. At the same time it is evident from our daily experience that these neurons must cooperate in a well coordinated fashion, be it the steering of movements or processes of pattern recognition, speech production, and so on. This high coordination becomes also macroscopically visible through MEG and EEG measurements of brain activity under different circumstances [19].

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