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  • Open Access

Signal transmission through excitable media by an oscillatory source

Lukas W. Kristensen1, Michael Lisby2, Mogens H. Jensen1,*, and Mathias S. Heltberg1,†

  • *Contact author: mhjensen@nbi.dk
  • †Contact author: heltberg@nbi.ku.dk
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L012051 – Published 3 March, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.L012051

Abstract

Living organisms transmit signals through local interactions with their neighbors. However, the precise timing of signals is fundamentally challenged by the presence of numerous stochastic reactions within interacting cells. Here we develop a minimal model to investigate the strength of signal propagation in stochastic environments. We uncover a multimodal frequency dependency with a few local optima, which is robust in both one and two dimensions. Through mathematical analysis we explain the frequency dependency and uncover the interplay between stochasticity and external frequency in order to optimize the signaling strength of the system. Finally we investigate the possibilities of bidirectional reactions in the oscillating source, allowing us to define thermodynamic properties of the system and investigate the relationship between free-energy dissipation and precision of signaling, showing nontrivial frequency dependency in coupled cells.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L012051– Published 3 March, 2025
  • Received 14 June 2024
  • Accepted 18 December 2024
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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