MIDIT OFD CATS Modelling, Nonlinear Dynamics Optics and Fluid Dynamics Chaos and Turbulence Studies and Irreversible Thermodynamics Risø National Laboratory Niels Bohr Institute and Technical University of Denmark Building 128 Department of Chemistry Building 321 P.O. Box 49 University of Copenhagen DK-2800 Lyngby DK-4000 Roskilde DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø Denmark Denmark Denmark
by Arthur Sherman
National Institute of Health
Wisconsin, Bethesda, USA
MIDIT-seminar 444
Wednesday April 14, 1999, 14.00 h
at MIDIT, IMM Building 305, room 053
Abstract: We have shown that electrical coupling of pancreatic beta-cells may be important not only for synchronizing oscillations, but for the generation of those oscillations. That is, one can demonstrate cases in which none of the individual cells are capable of bursting, but the coupled population is. In addition, even if the cells are burst capable, the coupled cells may exhibit significantly lengthened periods. These effects all depend on the asynchrony of the spikes within a burst, and many patterns of asynchrony (anti-phase, quasi-periodic, asymmetric) are possible. Consideration of heterogeneous cells, the most likely case, suggests that the asymmetric pattern will predominate.