Abstract
This paper discusses how the interdisciplinary field of synergetics may enable us to interpret physiological data on heart beat, blood circulation, breathing, EEGs, etc. and to model the underlying processes. It is argued that physiological systems are close to instability points, which allows the systems to adapt to new situations rapidly. At those instability points even the complex dynamics of multicomponent systems may be described by just a few variables, the so-called order parameters. These order parameters either move on a low-dimensional attractor, perform transients towards an attractor or undergo transitions between attractor states. These observations cast new light on dimension analysis used in chaos theory and give hints about how one may model these physiological processes. Emphasis is laid on the possibility of various couplings between oscillators. Such couplings may combine stability in amplitude with adaptability in phase.
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Haken, H. (1991). Synergetics – Can It Help Physiology. In: Haken, H., Koepchen, H.P. (eds) Rhythms in Physiological Systems. Springer Series in Synergetics, vol 55. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76877-4_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76877-4_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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