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Abstract

We define and develop a novel process, related to stochastic resonance, in which a particle experiences three forces: a constant drift, a zero-mean white noise, and a time-periodic modulation. Upon reaching a threshold, the particle immediately returns to the starting point. The resulting process exhibits multiple maxima in the output power at the modulation frequency as a function of the white-noise variance, multimodal first-passage-time densities, and evidence of phase locking. Our model is an extension of the Gerstein-Mandelbrot model of neuron firing to the case of periodic stimuli, and therefore has applications in neural modeling.

PACS 87.10  General, theoretical, and mathematical biophysics (including logic of biosystems, quantum biology, and relevant aspects of thermodynamics, information theory, cybernetics, and bionics)

PACS 05.40  Fluctuation phenomena, random processes and Brownian motion

PACS 02.50  Probability theory, stochastic processes, and statistics

PACS 01.30.Cc  Conference proceedings

Paper presented at the International Workshop «Fluctuations in Physics and Biology: Stochastic Resonance, Signal Processing and Related Phenomena», Elba, 5–10 June 1994.

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