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A note on the control of spontaneous activity in nervous systems

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Abstract

The spontaneous activity which is common to several natural afferent systems (thermal receptors, semicircular canal receptors) may be supposed to reduce the sensitivity of detection of stimuli by the organism. The simple device of reciprocal inhibition (conjoined negation) can be shown to suppress spontaneous activity. To illustrate this principle, a McCulloch-Pitts network is constructed for thermal sensitivity and its mathematical properties are examined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiobiological Laboratory of the University of Texas and the United States Air Force, Austin, Texas

    C. M. Williams & H. D. Landahl

  2. The University of Chicago, Committee on mathematical Biology, Austin, Texas

    C. M. Williams & H. D. Landahl

Authors
  1. C. M. Williams
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  2. H. D. Landahl
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Williams, C.M., Landahl, H.D. A note on the control of spontaneous activity in nervous systems. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 20, 155–160 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02477574

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02477574

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