Names and affiliation of other authors: C. Tessone, C. Mirasso, J.D. Gunton
Oral or poster: Oral presentation
Abstract: We present conclusive evidence showing that different sources of diversity, such as those represented by quenched disorder or noise, can induce a resonant collective behavior in an ensemble of coupled bistable or excitable systems. Our analytical and numerical results show that when such systems are subjected to an external subthreshold signal, their response is optimized for an intermediate value of the diversity. These findings show that intrinsic diversity might have a constructive role and suggest that natural systems might profit from their diversity in order to optimize the response to an external stimulus.
1st BioSim Conference. October 6th to October 8th, 2005. Palma de Mallorca, Spain.