ReviewPLoS computational biology2009
What is stochastic resonance? Definitions, misconceptions, debates, and its relevance to biology.
Review in PLoS computational biology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 262 papers.
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Who cites it
262 citing papers in PubMed.
- Online HD-tRNS Over the Right Temporoparietal Junction Modulates Social Inference But Not Motor Coordination.eNeuro · 2025Trial
- Beyond physiotherapy and pharmacological treatment for fibromyalgia syndrome: tailored tACS as a new therapeutic tool.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2021Trial
- Personalized transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and physical therapy to treat motor and cognitive symptoms in Parkinson's disease: A randomized cross-over trial.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2019Trial
- Hierarchical neural variability reveals adaptive and maladaptive mechanisms of non-suicidal self-injury.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Brain signal variability during rest as a neural mechanism underlying cognitive reserve.NeuroImage · 2026Article
- Sarcomere dynamic instability and stochastic heterogeneity drive robust cardiomyocyte contraction.eLife · 2026Article
- Subtle to significant: Enhancing heaviness perception with stochastic resonance.Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance · 2026Article
- The Fascial Capacitor Model: A Biophysical Hypothesis for the Origin of the Local Twitch Response Within Stacking Fascia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Cognitive-Behavioral Predictors of Individual Variability of Functional Connectivity in Healthy Young Adults.Research square · 2026Article
- Perceptual Learning of Multiple Object Tracking Is Not Enhanced by Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation of hMT.Translational vision science & technology · 2026Article
- On Intention and Fluctuations in the Coordination Dynamics of Animate Movement.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Signal-Dependent Planning Noise Reduces Task Interference by Assisting in the Formation of Stable Motor Primitives in a Neural Network Model of Muscle Coordination Learning.Neural computation · 2026Article
- The Heart's Electromagnetic Field in Emotions, Empathy and Human Connection: Biosensor-Derived Insights into Heart-Brain Axis Mechanisms and a Basis for Novel BioMagnetoTherapies.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The Influence of Noise Perception and Parent-Rated Developmental Characteristics on White Noise Benefits in Children.Journal of eye movement research · 2026Article
- segcsvdHuman brain mapping · 2026Article
- Enhancing Neuromorphic Robustness via Recurrence Resonance: The Role of Shared Weak Attractors in Quantum Logic Networks.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Noise enhances odor source localization.ArXiv · 2026Article
- Walking with noise: the impact of auditory white noise stimulation on gait dynamics in young and older adults.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- The Hidden Benefits of Noise: Low-Frequency tRNS and Dynamic Visual Noise Enhance Visual Processing.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Stochastic resonance of rotating particles in turbulence.Nature communications · 2025Article
202 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Stochastic resonance is said to be observed when increases in levels of unpredictable fluctuations--e.g., random noise--cause an increase in a metric of the quality of signal transmission or detection performance, rather than a decrease. This counterintuitive effect relies on system nonlinearities and on some parameter ranges being "suboptimal". Stochastic resonance has been observed, quantified, and described in a plethora of physical and biological systems, including neurons. Being a topic of widespread multidisciplinary interest, the definition of stochastic resonance has evolved significantly over the last decade or so, leading to a number of debates, misunderstandings, and controversies. Perhaps the most important debate is whether the brain has evolved to utilize random noise in vivo, as part of the "neural code". Surprisingly, this debate has been for the most part ignored by neuroscientists, despite much indirect evidence of a positive role for noise in the brain. We explore some of the reasons for this and argue why it would be more surprising if the brain did not exploit randomness provided by noise--via stochastic resonance or otherwise--than if it did. We also challenge neuroscientists and biologists, both computational and experimental, to embrace a very broad definition of stochastic resonance in terms of signal-processing "noise benefits", and to devise experiments aimed at verifying that random variability can play a functional role in the brain, nervous system, or other areas of biology.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.