Foreword by Alex A. R. Webb
An oscillation is the repetitive variation in time of some measure, or between two
or more different states. Oscillations occur not only in mechanical systems, but also
in other kinds of dynamical system. To the non-specialist it might be a surprise that
biological systems can arrange into networks that form robust oscillating dynamical
systems, but this is a frequent property of biological networks. By biological
oscillators we mean any system with repeated cycles of activity or abundance of a
biological component (e.g., metabolite or protein). Biological oscillators include
community behaviors, such as seen in ecological studies; however in this book the
focus is on oscillations in cellular or physiological activities within a single
organism.
Broadly, biological oscillators can be divided into three categories. First, there
are those that oscillate for a short period before damping and arise from a perturbation to the system, such as metabolic and homeostatic control mechanisms,
including the oscillatory dynamics in glycolysis. The second category of biological
oscillators involves stimulus-induced oscillatory behaviors including oscillatory
dynamics of signal relays within and between cells, oscillations of blood flow and
oscillations in firing of neurons in the brain. Lastly there are the self-sustaining
endogenous rhythms including the heart pacemaker, breathing and blood flow in
mammals, circadian oscillations, cell division cycles and developmental clocks.
These distinctions between the different types of biological oscillations are arbitrary
and the boundaries are blurred because all have some self-sustaining properties, and
all can have nonautonomous properties affected by other signals. These are some
of the complex issues discussed in the pages of this book.
Another level of complexity is introduced by the hierarchy of interactions
between oscillators. In both single- and multi-cellular organisms, oscillators often
can occur within a single cell, however, interactions between cells can reinforce,
amplify and make the oscillations more robust, such as found in the oscillations
between the neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the circadian pacemaker of
mammalian brains. In the mammalian circadian pacemaker, the oscillatory
dynamics are generated by transcriptional feedback loops of gene expression,
v
An oscillation is the repetitive variation in time of some measure, or between two
or more different states. Oscillations occur not only in mechanical systems, but also
in other kinds of dynamical system. To the non-specialist it might be a surprise that
biological systems can arrange into networks that form robust oscillating dynamical
systems, but this is a frequent property of biological networks. By biological
oscillators we mean any system with repeated cycles of activity or abundance of a
biological component (e.g., metabolite or protein). Biological oscillators include
community behaviors, such as seen in ecological studies; however in this book the
focus is on oscillations in cellular or physiological activities within a single
organism.
Broadly, biological oscillators can be divided into three categories. First, there
are those that oscillate for a short period before damping and arise from a perturbation to the system, such as metabolic and homeostatic control mechanisms,
including the oscillatory dynamics in glycolysis. The second category of biological
oscillators involves stimulus-induced oscillatory behaviors including oscillatory
dynamics of signal relays within and between cells, oscillations of blood flow and
oscillations in firing of neurons in the brain. Lastly there are the self-sustaining
endogenous rhythms including the heart pacemaker, breathing and blood flow in
mammals, circadian oscillations, cell division cycles and developmental clocks.
These distinctions between the different types of biological oscillations are arbitrary
and the boundaries are blurred because all have some self-sustaining properties, and
all can have nonautonomous properties affected by other signals. These are some
of the complex issues discussed in the pages of this book.
Another level of complexity is introduced by the hierarchy of interactions
between oscillators. In both single- and multi-cellular organisms, oscillators often
can occur within a single cell, however, interactions between cells can reinforce,
amplify and make the oscillations more robust, such as found in the oscillations
between the neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the circadian pacemaker of
mammalian brains. In the mammalian circadian pacemaker, the oscillatory
dynamics are generated by transcriptional feedback loops of gene expression,
v